Wolf's Den

**** Firefox HATES my long posts. So if you use FF, it will apparently cut off on you. IE seems to work otherwise. Thanks Audax for the heads up.****


This month's Challenge was hosted by Sketchy, of Sketchy's Kitchen. And it's a doozy.

In fact, when I first read what the Challenge was, my reaction was holy shit. It took a few weeks to get around to doing this Challenge. It was actually about 2 weeks before the reveal date that I even started on aspects of this one. Unusual for me, to say the least.

The main issue was trying to find actual Skate. That turned out to be impossible here. So I went with 'Previous Frozen fresh Cod, wild caught'- an oxymoron if you ask me. How can it be fresh if it was previously frozen? Hmmm.. Anyway...



As with any Challenge or baking/cooking excursion, I gather everything I think I'm going to need... and then some. And it took 2 days.



Day One.

First I needed to make all the powdered flavors I wanted to use. And here, I deviated from the suggested flavors in the recipe (of course, I did, would you expect any less???). This actually took some thinking and consulting via email with Audax, to decide what particular flavors would work well, and discard ones that neither of us thought would -Juniper berries, for example, Audux says would be too overpowering, and to save for a red meat instead, which I heeded and am doing... eventually.




This one was easy, as it was already in powder form. And let me tell you, THIS is freaking delicious. Yum. I need to get more, so I can try it in chili (I usually add a tablespoon of Hershey's Special Dark, but this, this will add an extra hint of 'kick').




This one was easy too- It's Curry and Smoked Paprika powders, then mixed. I thought at first that I'd added too much Paprika, but once I tasted it, no, it was just enough. The Curry had a nice spice to it, and was toned down nicely by the Paprika with it's slightly smoky flavor.




And this was the last of the really easy powders to make. Garlic and Chinese Ginger. Yum. Just yum. Can't say much more than that.



Now we get to the slightly harder and the 'what was I thinking' powders...



I love this mortar and pestle. It was handmade out of Apricot wood and I got it at a Greek Festival in North Carolina a good number of years ago. It really got a workout the day I made the powders. And performed beautifully. Well, mostly.




First up was the dried Parsley and dried Tarragon. YES I CHEATED. I used already dried stuffs. Note to self- when we go home on vacation, ask my mom if she still has her dehydrator and if so, if I can have it.

Anyway. Parsley and Tarragon powder beautifully. They make such a brilliant green too. It was just gorgeous. Of course, now I'm out of dried Tarragon and need to go pick some from my garden to dry, as that's one herb I use a lot of.

This actually only took maybe 15 minutes.



Now, I don't have a chinois. I'm not sophisticated enough.}:P BUT! I do have this handy Tea strainer. I think it came from a Teapot I no longer have. I can't remember.




So I dumped the ground Tarragon/Parsley blend into the strainer in a small bowl. Then I used a spoon to sift out the larger pieces from the powder. After that, I ground it all down again. And repeated until I had what I figured was enough for at least 2 servings (it was actually enough for 6 servings and then some).



Pffft. Who needs a fancy schmancy chinois when a handy Tea strainer works perfectly.}:P I know, I know, shaddup.



Next up was the dried Rosemary and Lemon Zest. I should have known better.



This was after an hour. Yeah. Mark even helped. I kid you not. It just did not want to break down for me.



After 2 hours, we gave up and got what we could. Which was just enough, actually. Heh. Couldn't have planned that if we tried. However, we learned our lesson. *nods sagely* You'll see.




Ain't that purty? All those bright, yummy smelling powders, ready to go. Well, almost. I still had one more powder to make.



There was a time when I thought I'd never need a food processor. Then I got Caena. Now, Caena's raw fed mostly. When we started her out on raw food, this mini processor was big enough. Soon enough, I ended up getting a full sized one. Yeah. Hind sight and all that.

The banana chips are, unfortunately, the regular honey coated ones, as until AFTER this Challenge, I couldn't find freeze dried ones. Grr. Yeah, I found not only freeze dried bananas, but apples, pears, strawberries and even pineapple! All at Fresh Market. I swear they didn't have them when I went looking for skate. *grumbles*



The mini processor doesn't do too badly at grinding the chips down, I suppose. It took awhile though and lots of shaking as they'd bind up under the blades. That was annoying.



Hmm... I don't think the Tea strainer is going to work this time...



This might work...



Maybe. Heh.



It was about this time that Mark, having watched me from his desk in the living room, came into the kitchen and picked up the flour sifter. See? This is why I married him and keep him around even nearly 15 years later.



I told him I was going to include him in this Challenge post, because, hey, well, he did help a bit.}:P He took over the sifting of the banana chips completely, dumping the chopped chips into the sifter that he'd placed over the small container...



And then tried to turn the handle. See the pieces of banana chips on the table? Yeah. He made a mess. I busted out laughing. Hence the blurriness of this photo as he turns to go get a lid, laughing at himself as well.

Good thing he's cute.




With a lid in place, back he goes to sifting. It worked much better when chips weren't flying everywhere, believe me. It was still funny though.



*sigh* This is gonna take awhile. And it did actually. Not as long as the Rosemary/Lemon Zest did, no. But it did take awhile. And this was only step one of the 'Brown Butter topping'. Yeah.



I couldn't find spray dried milk powder. Truth be told, I wouldn't even know WHERE to look. But we were in the Asian Market a block away awhile ago and I saw this yummy Coconut Cream Powder at the counter and knew that was what I had to use instead.




So, you take a cookie sheet and cover it with parchment paper... What? Of course I didn't have any parchment paper! That'd be too easy, you know. So I had to use tin foil instead. And I still haven't picked up any plastic wrap either. Yeah.

Anyway.. you spread the powder out in a thin layer. It smells and tasted divine. I love coconut. OmNomNom. Then you're supposed to bake it in the oven at 350 degrees until lightly toasted. LIGHTLY. toasted.



This?
Is. Not. Lightly. Toasted.

This is burned. In fact, I opened the oven and smoke came out. Yeah. Mark took the tin foil off and directly to the trash. Burned coconut powder doesn't smell good.}:( Good thing I still had more.




Try number 2. THIS is lightly toasted. This smelled delicious. This begged to be eaten as is. But yes, I refrained. And waited until it cooled before tasting it.




Once the toasted coconut powder had cooled, I scraped it all together. Then dumped it, by spoonfuls, into the ground banana chips. Mixed it all together and set it aside with the other powders.

Day Two.

I wasn't kidding when I said it took two days. I made the powders and planned the dinner for the next night. It worked better that way.




First up was the green beans. 2mm? Yeah, right. I got them , more or less, the same width, all sliced up. Well, enough for the 2 of us. I ended up slicing up the rest for dinner with the Bro in law and Sis in law 2 nights later though.




Next up was the FULL POUND of butter. Yeah. I used unsalted butter for this. After I took it out of the freezer and let it sit to soften so I could cut it up, I chopped it into pieces and stuck it back in the fridge until I was ready for it.



This was the Cod I used. I told you it was previously frozen fresh. Still an oxymoron if you ask me. No idea what exactly a 'J-cut' fillet means. But they worked. So that's all that matters.



They turned out to be longer than I thought, so I ended up cutting both fillets in half, getting 4 pieces from them. Then I stuck them in a bowl and back in the fridge.



Next up was the 'beurre monte' sauce. That is, a little bit of water, and the FULL POUND of butter, quickly whisked in and kept warm. This... took awhile.



This was halfway through the butter. Ugh. I had to have Mark come help, my wrist was so tired. I was wrong about that Rosemary/Lemon Zest being the hardest part of this dish, by the way.
It was neat how it didn't break, but made a nice, foamy sauce as it was whisked. but I will say, whatever French cook came up with this particular method of sauce making, was a sadist. This was torture on a wrist that's not used to that much whisking.



And finally finished. FINALLY. It made a nice, silky looking sauce. Which was then split, 2/3 or so into a separate pan with a bit of water, whisked to combine, of course. And the other 1/3 or so, whisked with more water in this pan.




In the one pan went the Cod, the green beans into the other. The green beans were then quickly simmered/boiled until much of the liquid was gone, then drained and lightly salted- hence the use of unsalted butter. The Cod was gently 'poached', 2 minutes, give or take, to a side. Given how it behaved as I tried to plate it, I wonder if genuine fresh Cod would stay together better. Hmm..



Meanwhile, while the beans and fish cooked, I set up the plates with the powders. This was harder than it looks, really. And LESS is definitely MORE, in this case. The Cod started to fall apart on me as I plated it. Grr. But you slice the bananas, arrange them on the plate with the powders, that you've 'artistically' arranged, top them with green beans, then the fish. The whole then gets topped with the Banana-Coconut Cream Powder and served.


Voila!




Now, this was the first time I made it. I remade it again, 2 days later, using FLOUNDER.



I also used Red Bananas this time. Supposedly, they have a hint of raspberry flavor to them, along with the usual banana flavor. None of us could taste it, however.




I used less powders this time, having learned my lesson the first time. I also used a very pointed 'baby spoon' to draw the Chrysanthemum-esque design, mimicking the InLaws' plates.



The Flounder, which we think might actually have been 'previously frozen' fresh, as well, also fell apart as I was poaching it. This time, it fell apart IN the poaching liquid, rather than as it was being plated. Hmph. While it was good, Mark and I prefer the Cod.



The entire table. Minus dessert, which will be AFTER the recipe.

* * * * * * *



Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - with changes
•4 skate wings
•* Beurre monte
•* 300g fresh green beans
•sea salt/kosher salt
•1 banana
•454g butter - 4 sticks
•300g lemons
•5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
•150g cilantro
•150g parsley
•100g dried banana chips
•300g spray dried cream powder (or powdered milk)
•100g cup minced red onion
•200g capers (brined, not oil)
* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Powders - prepare ahead of time
caper / onion
lemon powder
cilantro/parsley powder
'brown butter' powder

Powders
once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee grinder/spice mill/morter and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

citrus powder
300g lemons
1000g simple syrup
5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet

zest 300g of lemons (10.6 oz), remove the pith from the zest and poach in the simple syrup three times. dry with paper towels and move to a dehydrating tray. 130 for 12 hours. pulse the zest in a coffee grinder, pass through chinois, and mix with citric acid/vitamin C powder.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes at medium powder. Once dried, follow the other instructions.

cilantro/parsley powder
150g cilantro
150g parsley

blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes. Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray. 130 for 12 hours. grind and pass through chinois.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave for another thirty seconds. They should be dry by now, pulse in coffee grinder, pass through chinois and reserve.

onion powder
100g cup minced red onions

dehydrator - 130 for 12 hours
microwave at medium power for 20 minutes.

pulse in grinder, pass through chinois

Caper powder
200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)

run the capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine.
dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees.
microwave instructions are unclear. Dry them as much a possible with paper towels, the microwave on medium for 1 minute. Check the moisture content and stir them. repeat for 30 second intervals until they are dry. If you use this method, pleas post the time needed to dry the capers.

Once dry, pulse and sift the powder. Mix it with the onion powder.

Brown Butter powder

100g Dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)
300g spray dried cream powder

If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob's red mill non fat dry milk powder, or even carnation instant milk powder. The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or on parchment. bake for 4 minutes, then remove for heat. If it bakes for too long, it will burn. Be very cautious with all powders in the oven. They all go from browned to burnt in a few seconds.

grind the banana chips in a coffee grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder. Pass this through a chinois and reserve.

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* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Skate
Prepare the skate - 50G v shaped cuts are recommended
Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt

bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.

Plating

Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion-caper powder, and the cilantro parsley-powder. Swirl these around in a hurricane type pattern. I found that it is easier, and you get finer lines if you lightly shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.

peel the remaining banana into very think slices (3mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top. On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.

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Substitutions
The Skate can be replaced with flounder or cod.
If you can get skate that is not 'prepared' IE - Skinned- get the fish monger to prepare it for you.

The powdered cream can be omitted completely, just replace it with more banana powder, or pineapple powder. Possibly non dairy creamer, but I have NO idea what would happen if you tried to brown it.

The poaching liquid is pretty much butter - it could be replaced with other poaching methods. Water, wine, bay leaf, garlic clove, pepper, etc. Try to go easy on the salt in the liquid if you use a replacement.

Disclaimer - the sample dish was made with cod because Skate was not available at the time in Richmond. Whole Foods usually carries it. Check your fish markets before you head out to buy some.

sketchy
Alinea Cookbook
Grant Achatz

* * * * * * *

DESSERT- which... hasn't got a name.}:/



Couple bananas (one per person)
2-3 tsp Brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp butter

Vanilla ice cream
Brown Butter topping leftover from main dish, or fresh made

Peel and slice bananas. Melt butter in medium -hot pan and add bananas. Toss to coat. Add brown sugar and vanilla. Again, toss to thoroughly coat.

On dessert plates, place 1-2 scoops of ice cream in center of plate. Spoon bananas and glaze around the ice cream. Top with 'Brown Butter' topping. Serve.

Things I learned...



Abscond with the coffee grinder that Mark never uses anyway, SOONER. This was the Rosemary/Lemon Zest that I need more of for the second go round. This was in less that FIVE MINUTES. Yeah.



And THIS was the banana chips , which took maybe 15 minutes total to get more than enough needed. Now, the ones I used, did cake up and bind the grinder blades, but darn if it didn't work beautifully.

We loved it. We were skeptical of the bananas, beans and fish pairing, at first, but wow, was it ever delicious. Also, because it took so long to actually make, we decided it's definitely a special occasion meal. I'd definitely make it again. In fact, I stored the excess powders in the freezer for next time.}:P

I need to go get some of those freeze dried bananas, strawberries and pineapple, as well as more apples and pears. We want to experiment with fruit powders in desserts now.}:P

Well done, Sketchy! This turned out to be a great Challenge!