Scrumptious Street

Jean-Georges Molten Chocolate Cake

I don't care that Top Chef judges and hosts consider molten chocolate cake an outdated dessert. It's simply spectacular if you use a good recipe and can be viewed as timeless rather than tired.  It's also something that is pretty much universally uplifting just like playing with soap bubbles or eating ice cream or mac 'n cheese.  When the weather turns from warm to cool and we look for a sense of comfort and warmth in our cooking this dessert works.  Autumn is the time of year we open our homes more frequently to friends for dinner parties and I'm telling you this is a great way to end a meal with people you love. I warn you it produces very intimate moments like licking every crumb from your plate or spoon so hopefully you'll know your fellow diners well. Here's a look at my "Jean-Georges Molten Chocolate Cake".

My favorite chef is Jean-Georges Vongerichten (for a MULTITUDE of reasons) and this is definitely a variation on his recipe, which is one of the originals.  This recipe was also published by Food&Wine magazine and online, so this is a rare case where I'm posting something that's not completely "mine". I take no credit for it other than loving it and sharing it with you.

Upon our return to NY this summer Mr. Scrumptious and I visited our favorite restaurant, Jean Georges, and it's possible that in my husband's opinion it was solely to eat JGV's famous cake.  It happened to also be my birthday lunch, made more wonderful by a cameo in the dining room by The Chef himself.  So, I'm sharing this as a tribute and celebration to my favorite Chef, in my favorite City, in my favorite Season.  Enjoy this spectacular dessert and make sure to use the finest chocolate.  My choice is Patric chocolate, which I wrote about when I discovered it last year.  This is my tribute to a Master Chef and I hope you all enjoy it with gusto!

INGREDIENTS
Serves 4

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, highest quality
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour and discard. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with two inches of water and place a bowl inside that is large enough to sit in the pan without touching the water.  Bring the water to a gentle simmer but not a boil.  (This is a makeshift double-boiler.)  Place the butter with the chocolate inside the inner bowl and melt gently over the simmering water. In a second medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale yellow.
3. Whisk the chocolate and butter until silky smooth and shiny.  Quickly fold the melted chocolate into the egg mixture, add the flour and fold until incorporated.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold by tapping gently on the bottom of the ramekin until the cake slides out on the plate.
5. Serve immediately. 

This cake is "molten" because the batter in the middle isn't fully cooked, nor is it meant to be.  If you want it gooier, bake it a minute or two shorter.  If you want it firmer, then longer.  Part of the joy of this cake is that it's not fully baked so don't use the "toothpick comes out clean" trick.  If you do and you bake it that long you've over-baked the dessert and missed the entire point!

You can garnish with sifted confectioner's sugar, vanilla bean ice cream, fresh berries or nothing at all.  In any variation, the cake is fabulous!

Meyer Lemon Fresh Linguine

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently found some fantastic Meyer Lemons from a local orchard here in Northern California.  They've been endlessly inspiring, as well as delicious, and I fear that I've acquired a new food-addiction.  The lemons flavor is so wonderfully bright and sweet-tart that I'm using them all over the place.  This dish I created showcases their best flavors and textures in one healthy meal.  It's my "Meyer Lemon Fresh Linguine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Wild Mushrooms."

Last year, I did a post on my first-ever homemade pasta.  It was great, but I have to admit that this time surpassed my first round.  I've gotten better at forming, kneading and rolling out the dough so that this pasta was toothsome but so very delicate.  The Meyer Lemon add incredible depth and freshness; if it weren't so much work I'd make it once a week.  Alas, this is one dish that is honestly TRULY worth the effort.  For the pasta dough, I again used Mario Battali's recipe and added the Meyer Lemon Zest straight to the eggs in the well before mixing into the dough.  It worked perfectly.  The dough was very supple this time so I think I also got better with my hand-mixing and kneading.  My goal on the condiment for the pasta was to show-off the Meyer Lemon and pull in flavors that were still "Winter" in heartiness but light enough to not completely cloak the taste of the lemon.  I definitely succeeded!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6 depending on portion size (about 1 1/2 lb. dough)

For the dough:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
5 eggs
2 Meyer Lemons,  zested

Remaining ingredients:

3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. anchovy paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, minced
1 small Italian hot long chili pepper in oil, minced
kosher salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
4 oz. wild mushrooms (I used beautiful oyster and black trumpet mushrooms)
Juice from 2 Meyer Lemons zested for pasta dough (about 4 T.)
1 T. pasta water reserved after cooking
1/4 c. Asiago Cheese, grated

Method:

1. Prepare the pasta dough completely per recipe and instructions from Chef Batali. This time, I did all the mixing and kneading by hand instead of my Kitchen Aid. I only used that to roll and cut the dough.  It worked great!

2. Bring a large pasta pot full of water to a boil and salt generously.  Do not add the pasta until the sauce is nearly done since the pasta will only take about 2 minutes to cook.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil.  When hot, add the anchovy paste to the pan and melt it gently.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes and red hot pepper.

4. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.  Saute until the garlic is light brown. Turn down the heat to low and add the mushrooms.  Sweat them about 2 minutes until they start to soften then turn heat back to medium-high and sauté  about 4-6 minutes more.

5. Gently put the linguine in the boiling water when the mushrooms are about 2 minutes from being done. When done, drain the pasta and add directly to the skillet and add 1 T. pasta water.

6. Pour or squeeze the Meyer Lemon juice over the pasta and condiments in the skillet and toss very gently with tongs.  Incorporate all ingredients.

7. Remove the skillet from heat and serve the linguine.  Garnish with Asiago cheese and eat immediately!

After the paste is made, this is really very simple to make.  It's also spectacular.  If you don't want to make your own pasta, there are plenty of fresh varieties in most gourmet stores.  Just make sure to go for fresh with this dish and look for one that has lemon or another bright flavor such as herbs.  Enjoy!

Rhubarb and Quince Compote with Strawberries and Apple Granité

Rhubarb is another terrific Spring ingredient, I simply love its juicy and powerful tartness but am even more captivated by the way it sweetens and softens with a little bit of cooking and coaxing.  This dessert was a spontaneous creation, borrowing pieces from a wonderful dessert I had recently in a small NY restaurant, a little from my Mom's strawberry-rhubarb pie filling, a little from the affinity of these fruits for cheese and the gritty and sweet-tart taste of quince.  The granité recipe I found in Chef Daniel Boulud's "Cooking in New York City" cookbook and the combination worked beautifully.

Here is my "Rhubarb and Quince Compote with Strawberries and Spiced-Apple Granité".

There is a little surprise of fresh goat cheese under the quince-rhubarb compote and the hot fruit melted it and mixed in a gloriously rich and creamy way.  The dollop of white you see on the side is mascarpone cheese, which worked as a great balancer of the other sweet and tart flavors.  This is a simple yet very satisfying and different dessert.  Our Scrumptious guests really loved how this one turned out!

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 fresh quince, peeled, cored and diced
6 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar plus 1 T.
1 star anise
1 cinammon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, sliced and scraped
Juice 1 1/2 lemon
5 T. unsalted butter
8 young fresh rhubarb stalks, diced
16 fresh strawberries, halved
1 oz. fresh goat cheese, cut into 4 pieces (I used Boucherondin)

Method:
1. Wash, peel and slice fruits.  Prepare the spiced-apple granité, recipe below.

2. In a medium pot combine water sugar, star anise, cinammon, vanilla bean seeds and pod, juice of 1 lemon and bring to a gentle boil.  Add the quince and simmer about 40 minutes, until tender.  Stir in the rhubarb and simmer another 10 minutes, until soft.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Strain, reserving 2/3 c. poaching liquid.  Discard the spices.

3. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat.  Add the quince and cook until it is a light brown.  Add the poaching liquid and reduce to a thick compote.  Place the goat cheese in a dessert dish and spoon the warm compote on top.  Add the strawberries, one more T. of sugar and 1/2 lemon juice and toss over medium heat for about 20 seconds.  Remove and spoon around the compote.   Top with scoops or quenelles of the granité and serve immediately.  Add mint sprig and mascarpone cheese as garnish.

Spiced-Apple Granité by Daniel Boulud
Ingredients
Serves 4

4 c. fresh apple cider
1/2 c. sugar
1 3-inch cinammon stick
3 whole cloves
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Method:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Using a fine-mesh sieve or strainer, strain the liquid into a loaf pan and place in freezer.  Stir occasionally with a fork until liquid is frozen and granular.

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Fries

Our dear friend and spectacularly talented photographer-- he was our wedding photographer and yes this is us -- also shot the photographs for Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook.  Since our friend wrote a personal note and signed the book, it has been one of my prized kitchen possessions for two years.  Beyond the sentimental value, the book has some terrific recipes and one of my favorites is the "Les Halles Fries".

This is of course, solely Chef Bourdain's recipe and these fries are so good I wanted to share them with you.  I also made them with a terrific mussels dish which will be my next post.

So, here's how to make the perfect fries, courtesy of Chef Bourdain.  By the way, if you get the book, the narrative about fries is hilarious.  But, trust him:  "There's no half-ass way to make a French fry."  If you're going to put the time in to make them at home, follow this precisely.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 Idaho potatoes, big long ones
2 quarts (2.25 litres) or more peanut oil to fill fryer or pot
table salt

Method:
1.) PREP:  Fill a large bowl with ice water.  Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch/1-cm-thick sticks.  Put them immediately into the bowl of ice water to keep them from oxidizing.  Leave them in the water anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight, then rinse well in cold water to take out much of the starch.

2.) BLANCH: In a deep fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil to 280˚F/140˚C.  Cook the potatoes in batches, about 6 to 8 minutes for each batch, until they are soft and their color has paled from opaque white to a semitransluscent white.  Do not get impatient and yank them out early.  Remove them from the oil with a skimmer or wire basket and spread evenly on a baking sheet.  Let them rest at least 15 minutes.

3.) FRY: Bring the oil up to 375˚F/190˚C.  No hotter, no cooler.  Fry the blanched potatoes in batches for 2 to 3 minutes each, or until they are crispy and golden brown.  Remove from the oil with the skimmer or wire basket, shake off the excess oil/

4.) SERVE: Immediately drop the fries into another large bowl, which has been lined with a clean, dry lint-free towel.  Add salt to taste and whip out the towel.  Toss the fries around in the bowl and serve while still hot.