Pink Peppercorn Gougères

I love pink peppercorns. Technically though, they aren't even peppercorns, they are dried berries. They are so unique in color and especially in flavor. They give depth to any dish. They are not very spicy and have a great subtle mellowness that cuts the pepper very well.

Gougères are a savory preparation of choux pastry, essentially salty profiteroles. They are hard enough to tap on the outside, but hide a puff of air in the center. I love the combination of pink peppercorn and Parmesan: spicy and salty, but decidedly soft-spoken about their flavors.

Pink Peppercorn and Parmesan Gougères

-makes a bread-basketful-

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup water
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a covered saucepot, bring the butter and water to a boil with a pinch of salt.

3. When the water boils and the butter is fully melted, take the pan off the heat, and dump in the flour.

4. Return the pan to low heat, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for 30 to 45 seconds, or until the mixture comes together, and comes away from the sides of the pan. Turn the dough out into a large bowl.

5. Allow the dough to cool just slightly for a few minutes. Then, adding one egg at a time, stir the eggs into the dough with a wooden spoon.

6. Stir in the cheese and the pink peppercorns, and fully incorporate.

7. Use a medium-small sized ice cream scoop to make balls of the dough. Line them up on a Silpat-lined baking sheet, leaving some room between them to allow them to puff up. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F.

8. After 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees F, and bake another 35 to 40 minutes, until hard to the touch. Pull them out of the oven, and let them sit for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Then, allow them to cool further on a cooling rack. Eat warm or at room temperature.

(Picture by Seriouseats)

Sous Vide chicken with roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus

Sous Vide is the cooking method of poaching food in an airtight bag in a water bath for hours. I don't have a Sous Vide machine, its cost around $500, way over my budget. Fortunately, the guys over at Serious Eats have devised a much cheaper method of Sous Vide: a cooler. Coolers are designed to retain temperature, usually cold temperatures, but it works perfectly both ways.I added some herbs and garlic with the chicken to give it a earthy, herb flavor with works great with the roasted potatoes and asparagus.

Sous Vide chicken with potatoes and asparagus

3 chicken breast

3 sprigs thyme

3 sprigs rosemary

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 potatoes, russet or idaho work best, diced

1 bunch asparagus

1/4 cup white wine, dry

salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a small cooler, using hot sink water, fill the cooler up to about 2/3 full. It should register about 140 degrees, if its lower boil about 2 cups of water and add it.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to a ziplock bag. Add herbs, garlic and oil to bag and seal, try to make it as airtight as possible.
3. Submerge in water bath for a minimum of 1 hour and 35 minutes.
4. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Put diced potatoes in a heavy cast-iron skillet, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour or until tender.
5. Preheat a grill to medium heat. Toss asparagus with salt, pepper and olive oil. Grill for 5 minutes on each side.
6. Take chicken out of the water bath and dry with a paper towel.
7. In a frying pan, heat up some butter and briefly sauté chicken for 2 minutes a side.
8. Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup white wine for a pan sauce.
9. Take asparagus off the grill. Take the potatoes out of the oven. Slice the chicken. Plate and enjoy!

Peter's Eats Night 4/Vegetarian Night 1

Due to the overwhelming success of Peter's Eats Nights, I decided to have another one. I wanted to challenge myself this time by having some options for my diners. I've promised my vegetarian friends that I'd invite them to the next Peter's Eats night, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to have a vegetarian option for my guest. I'm not gonna lie, I don't really cook vegetarian food that often, but after tonight, I realized how tasty vegetarian food can be, and so did all the people that went to Peter's Eats Night 4.

Here is a copy of the menu, designed by my photoshop wiz brother.

Corn-red pepper fritters, sriracha mayo

Potato pave with fresh lime shrimp or grilled asparagus

Cheese Ravioli with sage, pine nut brown butter

Milk and cookies-momofuku compost cookie, toasted marshmallow milkshake

The first course was a dish that my mom made a while ago that I really loved. I recreated it pretty well, and the addition of the Sriracha mayo brought the dish together.

Next was the potato pave, which is a Thomas Keller recipe. It was the highlight of the meal, everyone wanted seconds of it.

The main course was cheese ravioli from the famed Raffetto's in Manhattan. I did a browned butter sauce with sage, pine nuts and parmesan. Unfortunately there were none leftover for me haha.

For dessert, I did my take on traditional "Milk and Cookies". I made a compost cookie from my favorite restaurant, Momofuku and a toasted marshmallow milkshake. It was a great way to end the meal for sure.

Roasted Garlic soup with Lardons and Potatoes

This is a very simple soup, with very simple flavors, albeit bold ones. Roasting the garlic also adds a little kick to this hearty soup. I got the idea for this soup from a friend who sent me her favorite food blog ( other then Peter's Eats) called http://smittenkitchen.com/. It has some great recipes on there, all with very simple and robust ingredients. It also has pretty great photography on it, which makes all the food look amazing; something I've yet to achieve haha.

I adapted the original recipe quite a bit. The original was just the roasted garlic, onions and stock, while mine has a whole lot more because I had some extra things in my fridge and pantry.

Roasted Garlic Soup

1 head garlic, unpeeled

1/2 head garlic, peeled

1/2 onion, sliced

1/4 stick of butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp red pepper flakes

1 large baked potato, diced

3 slices bacon, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place 1 head of unpeeled garlic in a small baking dish, pout olive oil over, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly with tin foil and roast for 45 minutes until fragrant and tender.
3. In a large saucepan, melt butter, toss in sliced onions. Cook until translucent, add roasted garlic and raw garlic.
4. Add stock and simmer for 20-30 minutes until raw garlic is soft. Carefully blend soup, a little at a time with a blender.
5. Return blended soup to stove, add cream, red pepper, bacon and potato chunks.
6. Let reduce under medium-low heat until thick and the potatoes are tender, season with salt and pepper, enjoy!!!

The deliciousness of Momofuku's Bo Ssäm

The Bo Ssäm ($200) at Momofuku Ssäm Bar is utterly fantastic. The dish consist of, as Chang puts it, "bo ssam - whole butt, oysters, kimchi, rice, bibb lettuce, ". It was first created at Momofuku during a staff meal where there were leftover oysters and pork shoulder. The bo ssäm is great for large groups of people as it can easily fill up 8 diners, we had 6 and there was still leftovers.

We started off with the famed Pork Buns, which were awesome as usual and the roasted rice cakes with spicy pork. Despite my numerous attempts, I don't think I will be able to recreate the pork buns anytime soon. The high quality of ingredients and years of practice are just something I can't achieve right now.

Now to the bo ssäm. The massive pork butt, beautifully caramelized with brown sugar was falling off the bone tender. After a little lesson by our waiter, we dug in; tearing apart the butt. Placing the tender pork on top of white rice and a freshly shucked oyster in the Bibb lettuce, which served as a taco shell of sorts. Then we had a choice of 4 sauces, my favorite was the Ssamjang sauce, which was sweet enough to hold up to the porky butt and fresh as can be oyster. The oyster and pork really worked wonders together, I had my doubts too, but it really came together beautifully. While it does seem very pricey at 200 dollars, it can easily be enough for 8-10 people. So it boils down to around $20-$25 per person, not cheap, but you're really getting a one of a kind meal.

After finishing up at the Ssäm Bar, we went next door to the Milk Bar, to start out travel through the Bermuda triangle of dessert spots. After I got a slice of my favorite dessert, the Crack Pie, which does live up to its name we headed over to Chikalious, where my uncle, mom and brother got espresso ice cream and chocolate eclairs. Then we headed over to Momofuku Noodle Bar for my Dad, who got the olive oil and pickled cherry soft served, which was pretty funky, but in a good way.

It was definitely quite the foodie night. One to remember for sure, as I probably won't need to eat for another few days after tonight. Hopefully one day i'll be able to create such an enticing dish as the bo ssäm at Momofuku Ssäm Bar.

Momofuku Compost Cookie

Ah how I love Momofuku; the buns, fried chicken, crack pie, it’s all just so damn good. I’ve stumbled upon yet another Momofuku recipe. I’ve been on a baking binge recently; my most recent creation? Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies. Easily one of the best cookies I’ve ever had. It gets its name from the wide range of ingredients in them.

Making these cookies is a fairly long process when it comes to cookies. You have to cream the butter for a full 10 minutes, but its soooo worth it, as that’s how it gets fluffy. You also have to allow the cookies to refrigerate for at least an hour so they don’t flatten out tremendously when baking.

Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies

Recipe by Christina Tosi (Courtesy of The Amateur Gourmet ^[1] and Regis & Kelly ^[2])

Makes 15 6-ounce cookies

8 ounces (1 cup) butter


1 cup granulated sugar


3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed


1 tablespoon light corn syrup


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


2 large eggs


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


2 teaspoon baking powder


1 teaspoon baking soda


2 teaspoon Kosher salt


1 1/2 cups Your favorite baking ingredients! (I used chocolate chips and toffee bits)

1 1/2 cups Your favorite snack foods (I used a combo, pretzels and potato chips)

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup on medium high speed for 2 – 3 minutes until the mixture is fluffy and pale yellow in color. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

2. On low speed, add the eggs and vanilla and mix until they are incorporated. then increase the speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During the 10 minutes, the sugar granules will fully dissolve and the mixture will become a pale cream color and double in size.

3. After the 10 minutes, lower the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix for 45 – 6o seconds—just until your dough comes together and the dry ingredients have become incorporated. DO NOT overmix the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

4. Continuing on the low speed, add the mix of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30 – 45 seconds until they are evenly mixed into the dough. Then finally, add your favorite snack foods last, mixing on low until they are just incorporated.

5. Use a 6-ounce ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. When you have scooped out all of the dough, wrap the baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour (or up to 1 week). DO NOT bake your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahreneheit. When the oven has come to temperature, arrange the chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet 4-inches apart. Bake the cookies for 9 – 11 minutes. Check the cookies at 9 minutes. They should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. If not (if they seem pale and dough on the surface), leave them in the oven for the additional 2 minutes. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to a plate or airtight container for storage.

Potato Pavé

Potato Pavé sounds all French and fancy, but it’s basically a very neat, very Thomas Keller scalloped potato dish. It’s absolutely delicious. You start with three mammoth-sized one pound potatoes. The grocery store had a handy scale that I used to find three perfect one pound potatoes. I must’ve scurried back and forth between the potatoes and the scale for a good 15 minutes, picking and choosing giant potatoes. The potato search was worth it; the pavé was creamy, with crisp, crunchy edges. It was like eating a thyme, garlic infused cake of potato goodness.

Potato Pavé

1 cup heavy cream

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 pounds russet potatoes (three 1-pound potatoes if possible)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter,

1 tablespoon softened and 4 tablespoons cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Canola oil

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 cloves garlic, skin-on, lightly crushed

Minced fresh chives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour cream into a large bowl; season with 1 teaspoon salt

and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Peel potatoes. Trim your potatoes so they fit in your

baking dish. Set a mandoline over bowl of cream and slice potatoes lengthwise

into very thin slices. Make sure the potato slices are tossed in the cream.

2. Brush a loaf pan with half of the softened butter. Line pan with parchment paper,

leaving a 5-inch overhang on all sides. Brush parchment paper with remaining

softened butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3.Trim slices to form an even layer in the bottom of the pan; repeat process to form a

second layer. Dot with a few cubes of butter; season with salt and pepper.

Continue layering potatoes and adding butter and seasoning after every two

layers until pan is filled. Fold sides of parchment paper over potatoes. Cover

pan tightly with aluminum foil and transfer to oven.

4.Bake until potatoes are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp

knife, about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15

minutes. Weight down with heavy cans; let potatoes cool to room temperature.

5.Remove weights and tightly wrap pan. Refrigerate potatoes at least 6 hours or up to 2days.

6.Take out the potatoes and trim sides of pave and cut into 12 equal pieces; let stand

at room temperature for 30 minutes.

7.Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add enough canola oil to coat. When oil is

hot, add potatoes, cut-side-down, along with thyme and garlic. Cook, basting

with oil, until browned on first side. Carefully turn and brown on opposite

side.

8. Transfer to a plate, top with chives and butter, enjoy!