SPEAKS April 16th 2015. www.colorfood.com/ @colorfood/ #colorfood.
The editor letter
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hy brown? Why didn't we choose a funnier color for our first edition? Brown is not people's favorite color, it is solid, mature, down to earth and boring. Yet, its the most delicious color. Chocolate anyone? Who doesnt enjoy a chocolate filled dessert? And if you are one of those people that don't like sweets, have you tried a crunchy falafel? So, despite of not being our favorite color, brown is the color of our favorite foods. and thats why we gave it the honour to be the color that will open this magazine. You must be asking whats the deal with colors and food. "Color food" is a project where every edition is color coded, so that every single dish, article and recipe revolves about the color of the month, which is also the dominant color in the design of the magazine, with the other colors serving as companions that make it stand out. It is a celebration of the pretty colors present in food. After all, culinary is an art. We hope you all make the most of these recipes, tips and articles that we have collected so you can have a little fun with color in the kitchen. With love
Laura Suarez M贸nica Viloria
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Contents
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EDITORIAL BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER DESSERTS SPECIAL
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What brown means to us
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Tips for better pancakes Coffee is happines
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Someone said mushrooms?
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Creamy, dreamy coffee ice cream Creamy peanut butter pie Jacques Torres chocolate chips cookies The dark chocolate
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All you need to know about Gordon Ramsay
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Breakfast
Do you crave pancakes that are light and fluffy on the inside, golden brown on the outside, with just the faintest hint of crispness? All it takes is a few simple moves!
It's All in the Mix
First, combine dry ingredients thoroughly, breaking up lumps either by sifting them together or by stirring them well with a whisk. Next, combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Don't skip this step. Then pour the two wet ingredients into the dry. Stir gently, just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Over-mixing leads to tough pancakes because the gluten in the flour begins to develop as soon as liquid touches it, and the more you mix, the tougher the gluten becomes. Don't worry about lumps in the batter.
Three Tricks for Tender, Airy Pancakes
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Give your pancakes the airy texture of soufflĂŠs and meringues by borrowing the technique that gives them their cloudlike consistency: beaten egg whites: Using the number of eggs called for in the recipe, separate the yolks from the whites. Mix the egg yolks with the rest of the wet ingredients, following recipe instructions. Combine with the dry ingredients to make the bat-
ter. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold the beaten whites into the batter and cook the pancakes immediately. Or try replacing some or all of the liquid in your recipe with a carbonated beverage (plain or flavored seltzer water, beer, cider, ginger ale) to make your pancakes very light and tender. Add the carbonation just before you're ready to pour the pancake batter on the griddle. This next trick works with any batter that includes double-acting baking powder: Mix the batter and let it rest in the refrigerator for several minutes, or even overnight. This allows the gluten to relax so the pancakes will be tender, and lets the baking powder form bubbles in the batter. After the batter rests, do not stir it or the bubbles will deflate.
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How to Cook a Pancake
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Preheat your griddle, heavy-bottomed nonstick pan or well-seasoned cast iron skillet to 375 degrees F (185 degrees C) or until a drop of water skitters across the pan.
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Lightly coat the hot pan with vegetable oil, cooking spray, or clarified butter (regular butter burns too quickly). Do a test run with one sacrificial pancake and adjust the temperature up or down as needed. If your pancake is scorched on the outside and raw on the inside, turn down the heat. When you're satisfied that you've reached the perfect pan temperature, ladle in as many pools of batter as your pan will comfortably hold, leaving a little room between pancakes for comfortable flipping.
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Don’t Press Your Pancake
A pancake is ready to be turned over when it's dry around the edges and bubbles have formed over the top. You are allowed to peek to see if the bottom is golden brown before you flip it. While you're waiting impatiently for the second side to cook, resist the impulse to press down the pancake with your spatula. Pressing will not cook it any faster, but will undo all the effort you've made to achieve fluffy, light, perfect pancakes.
Waiting is the Hardest Part
Pancakes are best eaten fresh from the griddle so you can enjoy their crispy, fluffy goodness. This may mean serving them a few at a time. If you absolutely must keep the pancakes waiting, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place them, uncovered, in a warm oven. Never stack or cover them—the steam makes them soggy.
Fun with Pancakes
To add some fun to the breakfast table, use a turkey baster to squeeze batter into designs, initials and other fun shapes. Pour batter into nonstick pancake molds or oiled metal cookie cutters for extra fancy forms. Butter and syrup are classic toppings, but try jam, honey, nut butter, lemon juice, powdered sugar, whipped cream or fresh fruit. Better yet, set up a pancake condiment buffet and let everyone build their own.
Breakfast
Coffee is Happiness
How drinking coffee can give you a long, happy life.
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Friday, February 14, 2014 Tags: coffee consumption, Alzheimer’’s prevention, caffeine Another study found a link beeople joke about how blood caffeine levels. drinking coffee has crea- Dr. Chuanhai Cao of the Uni- tween coffee and suicide risk. ted a culture of caffeine jun- versity of San Francisco said The Harvard School of Public kies, people who are basically that drinking caffeinated co- Health study showed that peozombies without their cups of ffee in moderation won’t ne- ple who consumed around two Joe. But the reality is that while cessarily prevent Alzheimer’s, to four cups of java had only some people will take anything but the researchers think that about half the risk of suicide. to excess, moderate coffee it could significantly decrease The suspected reason is that consumption may actually be Alzheimer’s risk or at least de- coffee assists the body to make neurotransmitters including good for you. Very good. Re- lay the development. search links drinking coffee to Coffee is also a rich source of dopamine, noradrenaline, and lowered risk of serious health antioxidants that protect peo- serotonin. These chemicals condition, to longevity, and to ple from a variety of diseases. help to fight depression. A 2005 study found that nobetter moods. thing else gives people nearly Coffee may Coffee fights as many as antioxidants as coextend life diseases ffee provides. For Americans, it is the number one source of Most people aspire to live long Studies indicate that drinking antioxidants. Although there happy lives, and coffee can ascoffee correlates with lower are other sources of antioxi- sist with that not only by elevarisks of diabetes and heart di- dants, such as fresh fruits and ting the mood and staving off seases, two major contributors veggies, the human body is diseases, but it also may simply to premature death. It could able to absorb more of these help you live longer. A 2012 also have a protective effect beneficial substances from co- study found that people who drank at least three cups daily against Alzheimer’s disease or ffee had a lower risk of death. Both delay the onset. These benefits Coffee makes regular and decaf seemed to only seem to come from conyou happy have a positive effect. A study suming coffee with caffeine from 2008 published in the though; decaf doesn’t do the trick. Researchers from two There is plenty of anecdotal Annals of Internal Medicine universities in the United Sta- evidence that coffee boosts the had similar findings. tes discovered a link between mood. Just hang out in Star- So, if you feel guilty about greater levels of caffeine in the bucks and watch the faces of how much coffee you drink, blood of people aged 65 and the people who come in and don’t. Of course, these studies older with later appearances of then see their faces change af- were all done with coffee, not ter they have their drinks. But expensive, high-calorie, extra Alzheimer’s. a National Institutes of Health sweet coffee-flavored beveAccording to the people from discovered that at least four rages. There are no studies to the Universities of South Flo- cups of Joe per day correla- support that habit. rida and Miami, higher levels tes to a 10 percent lower risk Sarka-Jonae Miller of caffeine appeared to corre- of depression. The author of late to a delay of two to four the study, Honglei Chen, MD, years of the disease when com- PhD, hypothesized that anpared to people who had lower tioxidants are responsible.
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ABOUT THE AUTOR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sarka-Jonae Miller is a former personal trainer and massage therapist. She has a journalism
degree from Syracuse University. Sarka-Jonae currently writes romantic comedy novels and romantic erotica under the same SJ Miller. Get more health and wellness tips from SJ’s natural health Twitter feed or from SJ’s Facebook page. SJ’s books can be found on Amazon.
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Breakfast
How drinking coffee can give you a long, happy life.
Lunch Mushrooms and ground meat blend seamlessly to add an extra serving of vegetable to the plate by enhancing or extending the meat. It works because finely chopped, umami-rich mushrooms look similar and take on the flavor properties of meat and other flavors. Add nutrients to America’s iconic foods without losing taste or satisfying texture.
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Mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins, including riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid, which help to provide energy by breaking down proteins, fats and carbohydrates2. B vitamins also play an important role in the nervous system: • Pantothenic acid helps with the production of hormones and also plays an important role in the nervous system. • Riboflavin helps maintain healthy red blood cells. • Niacin promotes healthy skin and makes sure the digestive and nervous systems function properly.
Mushrooms are also a source of important minerals: • Selenium is a mineral that works as an antioxidant to protect body cells from damage that might lead to heart disease, some cancers and other diseases of aging. It also has been found to be important for the immune system and fertility in men. Many foods of animal origin and grains are good sources of selenium, but mushrooms are among the richest sources of selenium in the produce aisle and provide 8-22 mcg per serving. • Ergothioneine is a naturally occurring antioxidant that also may help protect the body’s cells. Mushrooms provide 2.8-4.9 mg of ergothioneine per serving of white, portabella or crimini mushrooms. • Copper helps make red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. Copper also helps keep bones and nerves healthy. • Potassium is an important mineral many people do not get enough of. It aids in the maintenance of normal fluid and mineral balance, which helps control blood pressure. It also plays a role in making sure nerves and muscles, including the heart, function properly. Mushrooms have 98-376 mg of potassium per 84 gram serving, which is 3-11 percent of the Daily Value.
Beta-glucans, found in numerous mushroom species, have shown marked immunity-stimulating effects, contribute to resistance against allergies and may also participate in physiological processes related to the metabolism of fats and sugars in the human body. The beta-glucans contained in oyster, shiitake and split gill mushrooms are considered to be the most effective.
TAKEN FROM —HTTP://WWW. MARTHASTEWART. COM/852289/ SAUTEED-MUSHROOMS-HERBS— —HTTP://MUSHROOMINFO.COM/—
Sauteed mushrooms, a perfect lunch • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • 1 1⁄2 lbs button mushrooms • cleaned 3 tablespoons butter • sea salt • 1 tablespoon minced garlic • 1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves • 2 tablespoons lemon juice • 1⁄2 cup white wine • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
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Lunch
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ushrooms are fungi, which are so distinct in nature they are classified as their own kingdom, separate from plants or animals. While commonly placed in the vegetable category for dietary recommendations, mushrooms are, however, not a vegetable based on their cellular organization and composition such as chitin and ergosterol. In fact, as the authors of a recent Nutrition Today article noted, mushrooms’ nutrient and culinary characteristics suggest it may be time to re-evaluate food groupings and health benefits in the context of three separate food kingdoms: plants/ botany; animals/zoology and fungi/mycology.
Dinner Falafel is a very delicious Middle-Eastern gourmet appetizer that has become popular in the West over the past several years. It’s made from a deep fried paste of chick peas, fava beans, and a mix of onions and different herbs and spices.
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ifferent cultures prepare Falafel differently…When we discussed this recipe with a Palestinian friend of ours, he told us that Palestinians don’t add Fava beans to their Falafel, they make it solely with Chickpeas. Some Egyptian recipes on the other hand make it purely from Fava beans, with no chickpeas… so there, be creative and try it with different beans. Some folks even tried it with green peas. Our featured Falafel recipe is good for a serving of 10 and the leftover dough can be stored in a ziplog plastic bag in the freezer for a few weeks. All ingredients of this Falafel recipe can be purchased at Middle Eastern grocery stores.
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Ingredients Falafel Ingredients • 1 lb of dry peeled fava beans ¾ lbs of of dried chickpeas (aka Garbanzo beans) •1 bunch of Italian parsley (chop away the stems) • 2 bunches of green cilantro (chop away the stems) • 8-10 cloves of freshly peeled garlic, crushed • 1 large red or yellow onion • 1 bunch of green onions • 2 table spoons of salt • A dash of black pepper • 2 table spoons of flour • 1 teaspoon of baking soda • 1 dash of red chilli pepper (if spicy falafel is desired) • 1 teaspoon of cumin •3 teaspoons of Coriander
Falafel Tahini Sauce • 2 Table spoons of Tahini Paste • 1 cup of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice • 3 gloves of garlic, crushed • a dash of salt Optional Falafel Serving Sides • Salty Lebanese Pickles (cucumbers, turnips, pickled chilli peppers) • Tomatoes • Chopped fresh Italian parsley Pita bread.
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Frying the Falafel Minutes prior to frying, sprinkle baking soda on the Falfel mix, knead and let rest. When ready heat 1 inch deep of cooking oil in the frying pan on medium heat Scoop the falafel into by using a specialized Falafel scoop, an ice cream scoop, or by using 2 spoons whereby you scoop the falafel paste in one, and press the other spoon against it to compact into a “cake� then drop gently into the frying pan. Fry for a few minutes until the falafel turns brownish then scoop them out place on a paper town or in a colander and to dry out the extra oil.
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Baking the Falafel For the health conscious, you can scoop then layer the falafel patties on an aluminum/cooking tray that has been lightly oiled and bake in the oven at 400F for 7-10 minutes.
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Falafel Tahini Sauce Preparation Mix the Tahini sauce ingredients in the blender until they reach a homogeneous texture. Sample to ensure a balance of flavors. A good Falafel Tahini sauce should taste a bit tangy with a hint of garlic.. the sauce should end up looking cream/whitish. Serve as a side/dip.
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Putting Together the Falafel Sandwich While still hot, crush cooked falafel balls along the diameter of a pita bread, garnish with some chopped parsley leaves, add a table spoon of Tahini sauce, add some tomatoes, salted pickles, roll and enjoy.
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Dinner
Preparing the Falafel Mix Soak the fava beans and the chickpeas in water in separate containers overnight. The following day drain the fava beans, rinse them with fresh water then peel them (you can save time by buying peeled fava beans). Dry fava beans in a colander for a few moments then run them in the food processor for a minute or two until they look like thin bread crumbs. Put aside in a large bowl. Similarly rinse and dry the chickpeas then run them in the food processor until they reach the same consistency of the Fava beans. 5 Pour on top of fava beans. Place the garlic, red onions, green onions, parsley, cilantro, coriander, salt, peppers and flour in the food processor and run for a couple of minutes until they turn into a paste.
Dinner
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nion is the sacred plant of ancient Egyptians, it is one of the most popular ingredients of Hungarian cuisine and also – last but not least– a precious basis of French culinary art. Soup prepared from onion is known by the British, the German and the Spanish gastronomy but the moment we hear the expression “onion soup”, its French version comes to our mind.
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Royal Tastes According to historic records, the inhabitants of the Frank Empire gladly consumed various boiled onions mixed with water and oil. The French onion soup we know today, the basis of which is the caramelised onion, most probably dates back to the 17th century. Legend has it that the dish has a lot to do with Louis XV himself who at his arrival to a hunting lodge found only a small amount of butter, a few onions and some dry bread in the dispensary. His chef tried to prepare something grandiose for his king from these ingredients and that is how French onion soup was born.
Real Life Actually, this soup used to be one of the filling dishes of French country cuisine, the sweetly ripe onions from warmer regions eaten together with delicious French cheeses and bread have soon became popular in the neighbouring countries, too. The recipe was published as early as 1803 in the American cookbook “The Thrifty Housewife”. It has become an iconic dish of Parisian style of living. The legendary food even occurs in the world famous novel of Erich Maria Remarque, Arch of Triumph, published in 1945: “(...) some youngsters on the balcony spooned leek soup”. COLOR FOOD APRIL 2015
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Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top. Remove the thyme sprigs from the soup, and discard them. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning. Ladle the soup into four bowls, top each bowl with a bread slice, and serve.
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter • 3½ pounds yellow onions, sliced • Salt and black pepper • ⅓ cup dry white wine • 6 cups beef, chicken, or vegetable stock • 4 fresh thyme sprigs • 3 ounces gruyère cheese, grated • 4 slices sourdough bread
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Desserts
Creamy, Dreamy,
Coffee
IceUpCream there...
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Ice Cream + A Nespresso Giveaway! Monday, April 20, 2015 ( Fork Knife) By: Laura
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ee that creamy, dreamy, chocolate-y ice cream up there? That would be 100% dairy free, frozen vegan bliss and my current obsession. I’ve been a fan of coconut milk ice cream for a long time, but recently started experimenting with cashew-based ice cream. Soaked, raw cashews blend up to create an unbelievably, super smooth cream, with a neutral taste that’s prime for any number of flavorings, mimics dairy milk and is perfect for vegan sauces and desserts. The combination of cashew cream and coconut milk (along with lots of coffee and dark chocolate) in this recipe results in a thick, creamy, indulgent vegan ice cream you’d never believe was dairy free. But let me back up… This ice cream all started with a craving for affogato, the classic, “drunken” Italian dessert (warm espresso poured over ice cream for a luxuriously foolproof grown up sundae). I’ve teamed up again with Nespresso, and have been recipe-testing some new coffee recipes this week – playing around with the single-serve VertuoLine coffee system – which quickly brews flavorful, crema-topped espresso and large-cup coffees at the touch of a button – and their newest large-cup offering: Caramelizio, a medium-intensity, lightly roasted Arabica bean coffee of Brazilian and Central American origins.
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If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I love coffee.Hot coffee, iced coffee, coffee ice cream, and definitely coffee paired with chocolate… heck I add a dash of coffee or espresso powder to basically any chocolate dessert I ever make, to deepen and enhance the natural flavors. And I get lots of emails from readers asking if it’s really necessary. Yes, yes it is. Coffee and chocolate are best buds. The subtle, sweet caramel and vanilla notes of the Caramelizio coffee begged to be paired with deep, dark chocolate of course, and I was inspired to make some homemade dark chocolate coffee ice cream with the fresh brew. All the flavors of affogato (plus chocolate) wrapped up in one creamy, decadent ice cream, that (bonus!) also happens to be vegan and gluten free. AND, in honor of the one year anniversary of the VertuoLine system, and to celebrate the release of Caramelizio, Nespresso is offering a brand new, beautiful VertuoLine machine to one lucky reader. That means you!
Homemade Ice Cream Tips Be sure that the ice cream machine canister is completely frozen. For me, that means turning the freezer down to the coldest setting, placing the bowl in the very back of the freezer, and freezing the bowl at least 24 hours before I plan to make ice cream. If you make ice
to make ice cream. If you make ice cream often, and have freezer space, I find it convenient to simply store the canister in the freezer, so that it’s always ready to go.
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horoughly chill the ice cream base and any mixins. I generally make sure to chill any ingredients in the fridge for at least 2 hours, and often overnight. You want the mixture(s) to be really, really cold when you begin churning. Take the canister out of the freezer at the last minute, and begin churning as quickly as possible. Add mix-in ingredients in the last couple of minutes of churning. I generally wait until the ice cream is basically set up before adding any caramels, nuts, chocolate etc., usually about 3-5 minutes before turning off the machine. Don’t over-churn. Most ice cream machines take about 18-25 minutes to churn a batch of ice cream. Continuing to churn beyond the recommended time generally won’t make the ice cream any colder or firmer in texture, as the frozen canister will begin to thaw. Freeze your ice cream after churning for a firmer and appropiate texture. Straight out of the machine, freshly-churned ice cream will be soft – similar to the texture and consistency of soft-serve. Freezing the ice cream for an hour or two will create a firmer, more scoop-able texture.
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Desserts
Vegan Chocolate-Coffee
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Desserts
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’ve seen this pie make the rounds for years now, and I’ve always wanted to make it. The story behind the pie truly is heartbreaking, but what warms even the cockles of my cold, black heart is that people from all over the world came together to support a women going through an incredibly hard time. There really isn’t a better way to let someone know that you are thinking of them and care for them than by making them a casserole, pouring them a drink, or, in this case, making them what may very well be the best pie ever. This is a pie that definitely needs to be served cold, but it’s worth keeping it in the fridge. The filling is made with my two absolute favorite things: sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. I’ve got some serious cravings just saying those words together. For a crust, I used a simple graham cracker and butter combo, topped with milk chocolate and chopped honey roasted peanuts. The crunchy graham crackers and rich chocolate pair beautifully with the silky smooth peanut butter and whipped cream filling. I don’t think that there is a pie that could be more of a people pleaser than this one. It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s texturally interesting and keeps well in the fridge for a week or in
the freezer for months. Make mini versions in muffin cups, or double the recipe and make it in a 9×13-inch baking dish. I should have done that, actually. Learn from my mistakes and eat lots of peanut butter!
For the Crust: • 1½ sheets graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs (about 1½ cups) • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted For the Pie: • 4 ounces finely chopped milk chocolate • ¼ cup roughly chopped honey roasted peanuts • 1 cup heavy cream • 8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, room temperature • 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1 cup powdered sugar • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice extra chopped chocolate and chopped peanuts, for garnish
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine your crushed graham crackers and melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, pressing up into the sides of the dish. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden. Set aside. Let the graham cracker crust cool a bit, then melt your 4 ounces of chocolate in short spurts in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate over the crust and smooth it out. Sprinkle the chocolate layer with ¼ cup of chopped peanuts, then place the pie dish in the fridge until ready to use. Pour 1 cup of heavy cream in the bowl of your mixer, and whip until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes (be careful not to overwhip). Place the whipped cream in another bowl and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Wipe out your mixing bowl and add in the cream cheese and peanut butter. Beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the sugar and sweetened condensed milk and beat until well mixed, then add in the vanilla and lemon juice and beat until smooth. Fold in ½ of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture, until fully combined, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until smooth. Pour the peanut butter filling over the top of the pie crust, smooth the top over and sprinkle with your additional chopped chocolate and/or peanuts. Place the pie in the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving (or freeze). The pie shouldn’t sit out at room temperature for too long - it’s best chilled!
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Desserts
Jacques Torres
Chocolate Chips Cookies Milk is, in fact an essential component to nejoying these amazing cookies
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ow, I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I swear by. I love it, I think it is incredible, and I haven’t changed my mind about that. However, as much as it pains me to say it, these chocolate chip cookies by Jacques Torres are absolutely, without a doubt, the best chocolate chip cookies that I have ever made or tasted in my entire life. I guess that’s why they call him Mr. Chocolate! These are a chocolate chip cookie of another color, that’s for sure. »»They use both cake flour and bread flour – that’s right, there is no all-purpose flour to be found in these beauties. »»Secondly, the dough must, and I repeat, must, be refrigerated for a minimum of 24 hours. I know that this sounds strange, but trust me. “The result is a chewy cookie with just the right amount of crisp around the edges”. They are perfectly soft while still being just firm enough to stay together while you take them to work to share with co-workers, package them up to send to friends around the world, or
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squeeze them close so that nobody can pry them from your cold, dead hands. The other difference is that the recipe recommends that you use Jacques Torres chocolate disks, which can be found here. I, however, did not have these, so I used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate baking pieces that I chopped up, as well as Guittard 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips, which are actually very large and worked perfectly as a replacement. I really liked the different textures of chocolate, to be honest, so I recommend deviating from the original recipe just a tiny bit and using two kinds of chocolate.
They disappeared from my office’s kitchen in record time! People especially loved the salt and massive amounts of chocolate (surprise). These are the real deal, folks, so I really recommend setting aside an extra day to make your chocolate chip cookies and give these a try. The Crepes of Wrath
I ended up making around 100 cookies, so i mailed some to a friend living in Seattle (who said that he ate them for dinner when he got them), brought some into my office, gave some to the doormen at work, and gave a bunch to Kramer to take into his office. The response was unanimous: “best. cookies, ever”.
METHODOLOGY:
Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and mix. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, until just moistened. Fold in your chocolate until evenly added throughout the dough. Press plastic wrap against the dough, making sure it is completely covered, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or as long as 72 hours. When you are ready to bake, bring the dough to room temperature so that you can scoop it out (I usually let it just sit on my counter for an hour or two), and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line and/or grease your baking sheets. Scoop your dough out onto the sheets. I used a #40 ice cream scoop, which is about the size of 2 tablespoons, but you can make them even larger, if you like. Do not press the dough down - let it stay the way it is. Sprinkle the cookies lightly with a bit of fleur de sel or sea salt. Bake 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies (mine took about 11 minutes). Allow the cookies to cool slightly on your baking sheet, then move them to another surface to cool completely. You can enjoy these warm, room temperature, or cold. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
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Ingredients
• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour •1⅔ cups bread flour • 1½ teaspoons baking powder • 1¼ teaspoons baking soda • 1½ teaspoons coarse salt • 2½ sticks (1¼ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature • 1¼ cups light brown sugar, packed • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar • 2 large eggs, room temperature • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract • 1⅓ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content • sea salt or fleur de sel, for sprinkling
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n the past decade, Americans have gotten serious about dark chocolate. Rich, complex, and even bitter, its flavor transcends the mild, sugar-laden milk chocolate that many of us grew up with. As a result, ever-climbing cacao percentages are now posted prominently on packaging, and chocophiles have come to describe bars with the same level of detail that they’d use for a fine Cabernet.
“Bean to bar” is hot, as artisanal chocolatiers take control of every aspect of chocolate making, from sourcing to production. Single-origin bars are trendy, too, showcasing distinct regional characteristics such as the intensely floral flavor of beans from the mountains of Peru or the dried mint overtones of bars made from the beans from Trinidad. But almost all these pricey chocolates are meant to be eaten plain, savored by the sliver, rather than used for cooking. It seems wasteful to cook with them, as many of their more delicate notes won’t survive a hot oven.
(You know that unmistakable fragrance that pervades the kitchen when you’re baking chocolate cake or brownies? Those are flavor and aroma volatiles driven out of the baked goods by the heat.) To find a great everyday dark chocolate, we focused on national supermarket brands; after all, we want to be able to pick some up whenever the need for a brownie strikes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t set a standard of identity for dark chocolate except that “bittersweet” and “semisweet” chocolate must contain at least 35 percent cacao—and it doesn’t differentiate between the two terms. (The cacao percentage is the portion of the chocolate made from the cacao bean and includes both cocoa solids and cocoa butter; the rest is mostly sugar.) In the past we’ve focused on products with about 60 percent cacao, but this time, to truly evaluate all the supermarket options, if it met the FDA’s 35 percent cacao minimum, we considered it for our li
neup. We found nine nationally available chocolates , priced from $0.47 to $1.43 per ounce, and included our winner from a previous tasting, which is available in most of Foods Markets and via mail order. We conducted three blind taste tests, evaluating the chocolates’ flavor, sweetness, texture, and overall appeal. We sampled them plain and also in brownies to see how well the chocolate flavor endured heat. Finally we melted them in pots de crème—a creamy application where textural differences are laid bare. After the results were tallied, we had to ask: Was there such a thing as a great-tasting, easy-to-find dark chocolate that works well in recipes? Happily, yes. But buyer beware: It’s stacked on supermarket shelves right next to products that can ruin a dessert.
METHODOLOGY We tasted 10 nationally available supermarket brands of dark chocolate that met the F DA minimum of at least 35 percent cacao, sampling them in three blind tastings—plain, in brownies, and in our Cook’s Illustrated Chocolate Pots de Crème recipe—and rating them on flavor, texture, sweetness, and overall appeal. Fat and sugar levels were taken from nutrition labels and are expressed in a serving size of 42 grams. We learned approximate cacao percentages from manufacturers and calculated approximate cocoa solids with the help of chocolate experts from the Penn State University Cocoa, Chocolate, and Confectionery Research Group and the MIT Lab for Chocolate Science; levels are plus or minus 2 percent. Scores were averaged and the products appear in order of preference.
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THE DARK SIDE Dark chocolate is made of three primary ingredients: cocoa butter, cocoa solids, and sugar. Across the board in the chocolates we tasted, we determined that fat levels were relatively consistent, with cocoa butter making up about one-third of the total composition of each chocolate; the remaining two-thirds is a tug-of-war between sugar and cocoa solids more sugar means fewer cocoa solids. Sugar amounts ranged from 36 to 57 percent; in the plain and brownie tastings, products with more than 50 percent sugar sank to the bottom of the ratings, coming off as “sickeningly sweet,” with a “faint” chocolate presence. In the same tastings, we weren’t surprised to find that low-sugar, high-cocoa-solids products rocketed to the top, scoring points for intense chocolate flavor. But it wasn’t until we made pots de crème that we realized that the wrong ratio of sugar to cocoa solids could actually ruin a recipe: Our 10 custards—each made exactly the same except for the chocolate that we used—ran the gamut from loose and drippy to dense and decadently creamy.
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Desserts
“Choosing the right dark chocolate can make the difference between a dessert that’s flawless and one that’s a flop.”
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etween sugar and cocoa solids more sugar means fewer cocoa solids. Sugar amounts ranged from 36 to 57 percent; in the plain and brownie tastings, products with more than 50 percent sugar sank to the bottom of the ratings, coming off as “sickeningly sweet,” with a “faint” chocolate presence. In the same tastings, we weren’t surprised to find that low-sugar, high-cocoa-solids products rocketed to the top, scoring points for intense chocolate flavor. But it wasn’t until we made pots de crème that we realized that the wrong ratio of sugar to cocoa solids could actually ruin a recipe: Our 10 custards—each made exactly the same except for the chocolate that we used—ran the gamut from loose and drippy to dense and decadently creamy. Previous tastings taught us that more cocoa solids make firmer pots de crème, and in this lineup the solids ranged from 13 to 30 percent. Indeed, when we organized our pots de crème from runniest to firmest, we noted that those made with products with less than 20 percent cocoa solids failed to set up, dripping off our spoons. Chocolates with 22 to 25 percent cocoa solids hit the sweet spot, turning out consistently dense and creamy.
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(More fat means better flow when the chocolate is melted, since fat creates a liquid base that transports the other ingredients.) The type of fat is important, too. Our supermarket favorite contains milk fat (along with cocoa butter); the other doesn’t. In fact, six of our 10 products add milk fat, an ingredient that has been used increasingly in recent years for its softening effect. Milk fat has a lower and wider melting range (85 to 94 degrees) than cocoa butter (90 to 93 degrees), so cho colates containing milk fat melt faster and stay liquid longer, giving a wider window of liquidity that can come in handy if you’re making, say, truffles. We ultimately chose our winning dark chocolate for its effortless performance across all applications and easy availability. At the extreme, the two products with the most cocoa solids, sometimes caused the custard to break and turn clumpy, a result of cocoa particles bonding with themselves instead of with the limited amount of free water in the mix. But thanks to the natural variability of water in eggs and even minor differences in heat and stirring rates, clumping didn’t always happen.
• Bar Braw
“Without pain, how could we know joy?’ This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.” John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
In the end, two 60-percent-cacao chocolates that we’ve singled out in the past topped our charts, but they weren’t identical: Tasters raved about one, calling it “complex” and “luxurious.” Its downside is that it can be a little hard to source and is sometimes finicky in creamy applications. The second always produced texturally flawless desserts that were “luscious” and “subtly fruity”; plus it’s available in supermarkets nationwide. In addition, it is supremely easy to work with when it’s melted (such as when we are glazing a cake or tart) because it has the highest fat level of all 10 products. Cook’s Illustrated.
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G
ordon Ramsay has one of the most recognised faces of any chef on the planet. The global phenomenon which is Chef Ramsay owns restaurants in seven countries, has written numerous cookbooks, is the star of several highly popular cooking programmes including the F Word, Kitchen Nightmares, Hells Kitchen, Hells Kitchen US, Great Escapes and Cook Along Live. Where does he get his energy or time from? Because of his perceived highly volatile nature, Gordon Ramsay has the reputation for, shall we say not suffering fools gladly, and his use of four-letter expletives has allegedly earned him as many critics as fans. The recent global recession has also bitten Chef Ramsay's global empire, plus recent tabloid reports on - unfounded - aspects of his personal life have piled the pressure on. Recently I was fortunate enough to meet him when I was asked to be a judge for the final of the F-Word in the UK. As well as being honoured to be asked, I was also quite nervous about his feisty reputation but can say I found him to be polite, charming and extremely hard-working. I am not sure if I was disappointed or not, but he didn't shout or swear once during 9 hours of filming. Not only did I get to meet Chef Ramsay but am happy to report that despite his busy schedule and business pressures, he agreed to an interview and to share some of his recipes here on About.com'stish Food site. Fun!
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One outcome of the recent recession has been the return to the stove by many. If there's one British dish everyone should master, what do you think it should be? Everyone should be able to cook a good roast dinner. Sunday lunch with family and friends isn't just a meal but an event in itself. Who is your role model? I've met so many inspirational people along the way it would be impossible to choose one. From Tana (Mrs. Gordon Ramsay) and my mum to some incredible chefs
- Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy to name a few. If you could cook a meal for anyone, who would it be and what would you cook? I would love to cook for Obama. I'd cook something simple and elegant, maybe a crab linguine. Your last meal? Sea bass is the king of fish so my idea of the perfect last meal would be a beautiful fillet, panfried with a light sorrel sauce; or served roasted with artichokes and a chive crème fraîche.
I cook, I create, I'm incredibly excited by what I do, I've still got a lot to achieve.
cottish by birth, Gordon Ramsay was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. With an injury prematurely putting an end to any hopes of a promising career in football, he went back to college to complete a course in hotel management. His dedication and natural talent led him to train with some of the world’s leading chefs, such as Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White in London, and Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon in France. In 1993 Gordon became chef of Aubergine in London, which within three years, was awarded two Michelin stars. In 1998, at the age of 31, Ramsay set up his first wholly owned and namesake restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which quickly received the most prestigious accolade in the culinary world – three Michelin stars. Today, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is London’s longest-running restaurant to hold this award, and Ramsay is one of only four chefs in the UK to maintain three stars. Now internationally renowned, Gordon has opened a string of successful restaurants across the globe, from the UK to Italy to the United States and holds 7 Michelin stars. The Group continues to grow with two ventures in Doha, Qatar opened in 2012; a total of three restaurants in Las Vegas Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris, GR Pub and Grill at Caesars Palace and GR BurGR at Planet Hollywood, also in 2012 and most recently in London Union Street Café in Southwark (2013), London House in Battersea (2014) and Heddon Street Kitchen November 2014. Ramsay received an OBE (Order of the British Empire awarded by Queen Elizabeth II) in 2006 for services to the industry. Gordon has also become a star of the small screen both in the UK and internationally, with UK shows such as GORDON BEHIND BARS, ULTIMATE COOKERY COURSE, GORDON’S GREAT ESCAPES and GORDON RAMSAY: SHARK BAIT, as well as four top-rated FOX shows that air in more than 200 countries worldwide: KITCHEN NIGHTMARES, HELL’S KITCHEN, MASTERCHEF US and HOTEL HELL. He is also a published author of a number of books, many of which have become bestsellers around the world, most notably his autobiography, Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen. Gordon has a global partnership with WWRD (Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton), which offers quality home and lifestyle products. He lives with his wife, Tana and four children, along with their bulldog Rumpole and two cats. He divides his time between Los Angeles and South London. In 2014, Gordon and Tana set up the Gordon Ramsay Foundation to raise money for several charities that are important to them.
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What influences do you think/hope you have had on British cuisine? I would like to think I've got a few more British people into their kitchens at home. I hope that I have persuaded a few people to give up the ready meals and give cooking a go. What don't people know about you that you wish they did. I step out of my chef boots when I leave the kitchen. I think a lot of people think that the man they see in the kitchen in the middle of service is the same as the man outside which is untrue. Times have been tough for everyone including yourself recently, what if anything do you feel you have learned through this? Be strong, we've ridden the storm and come out the other end. Never at any point did we consider giving up. There's a new book out, a new kitchen range - any more exciting new ventures on the horizon? Absolutely. Pétrus will relaunch in the spring in Belgravia with an extremely talented young chef, Sean Burbridge, at the helm. This will be closely followed by The Savoy Grill in the summer. We also have our restaurant in Melbourne launching an May under Josh Emmett. A big thank you to Chef Ramsay for taking the time to answer my questions.
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Do you have a guilty food pleasure when no-one else is around? Jaffa cakes and sweets. I can't get enough of them! Favourite British food? You can't beat fantastic fish and chips. At our pub, The Narrow, we add vodka to the batter mixture to make the most amazing crispy coating. What misconceptions do people have about British cooking and how would you like to change that? I think a lot of people still think of British cooking as bland and a bit dull. We have some exceptional ingredients available to us from our fantastic beef and pork to our game. Cooked well, British cooking is as good, if not better, than any other.
special • 50g melted butter, for brushing • cocoa powder, for dusting • 200g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces • 200g butter, in small pieces • 200g golden caster sugar • 4 eggs and 4 yolks • 200g plain flour • Caramel sauce (see 'Goes well with') and vanilla ice cream or orange sorbet, to serve
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First get your moulds ready. Using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of the pudding mould. Place the mould in the fridge or freezer. Brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa back into the jar, then re-
peat with 1 the next mould. Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove bowl from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 mins. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail; use an electric whisk if you want. Sift the flour into the eggs, then beat together. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition, until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.
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Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. The fondants can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. Chill for at least 20 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 minutess more to the cooking time. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit for 1 min before turning out. Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very
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gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each fondant slightly onto your hand so you know it has come away, then tip back into the mould ready to plate up. Starting from the middle of each plate, squeeze a spiral of caramel sauce – do all the plates you need before you go on to the next stage. Sit a fondant in the middle of each plate. Using a large spoon dipped in hot water, scoop a ‘quenelle’ of ice cream. Carefully place the ice cream on top of the fondant, then serve immediately. Repeat with the rest of the fondants.
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Oh, fuck off you, you fat useless sack of fucking yankee-danky-doodle shite. Fuck off will you please, yeah? OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! OH, COME ON!! Hold on, there's someone being dishonest. Lift the bottom of the wellington over. (Brad does so) Oh come on. You give me them anemic bits of shit, I'll fucking throw them up your arse sideways. (kicks a bin) Where's your fucking brain? I just cannot believe this! Can we have the two main courses TOGETHER?!!! (kicks the bins) SHIT!!! Ohhhhhhhh. You still look fabulous by the way, yeah? You should be covering GQ you, front cover, "Captain Dick". IT'S STONE-COOOOOOOLD!!! Just look what you're doing, you DOUGHNUT! Look, BOILED, BOILED, BOILED, BOILED! DONKEY! OH, MY GOD! [takes a spoonful out] Look, snot! [tosses the sauce away] Fuck off. [kicks the bins] USELESS FUCKING PIECES OF SHIT!! YOU ALL KNOW IT'S CRAP, YET NOT ONE OF YOU HAVE GOT THE BALLS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!
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