Sans Rival

 

A very French name for a very Filipino dessert.

As a kid sansrival was such a treat. So decadent, so buttery, salty, chewy, and crisp. While most Filipino desserts had glutinous characteristics ( we inherited that from our southeast Asian neighbors) sansrival stood out as very European. As a little kid in a bakery in Manila, the world became bigger and very tasty because of desserts like this. And only when I started studying food did I make the technical connections to desserts like Merveilleaux or Pavlova, all of which I love to eat! Sansrival, though, is of course, my special “happy-evoking” version.  

There are so many versions of Sansrival’s origin. From the name (Sans Rival, lit. “unrivaled”) it seems rooted in France, yet some say it’s the Spaniards version of a Russian Imperial torte. Others write that in the 1920’s after Filipinos returned from travel to Europe, they started introducing cooking techniques they learned while living in Europe.  I like to think that the Filipino sense of humor named it Sans Rival as an answer to and play on the Belgian dessert, merveilleaux which translates to great, marvelous, wonderful. 

Recipe:

Yield - 6-inch round with 4 layers of meringue. This dessert is so decadent that it’s enough for 8 to 12 mini slices. 

Meringue:

2 cups cashew nuts, toasted and cooled

4 ea egg whites 

1/4 tsp cream of tartar 

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

Draw four 6-inch circles on parchment paper and use it to line your baking sheet.

Using a food processor, pulse the cashews and set aside 1 cup of larger chopped pieces. Continue to process the remaining cashews into very fine sand consistency. This is your cashew flour.

Combined egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment and whip until frothy. Then gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue to whip until you reach stiff peaks.

Carefully fold in the cashew flour, salt, and vanilla extract keeping the mixture light and airy and not deflated.

Transfer meringue into a piping bag with a large round tip and begin to pipe meringue circles filling each circle you drew to make disks. These will be your layers so make them as even as possible. 

Bake your meringue disks for about 20 to 25 min until they are golden brown. Cool.

French buttercream:

This is a double batch to ensure you have plenty to layer and ice with.

8 each egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 cups  butter

Place yolk in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the eggs about 5 minutes until light in color.

Place your sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Do not mix. Heat at medium low and when the sugar is fully dissolved and bubbles up in the middle, take off heat and slowly tricke onto the egg yolks while continuing to beat. 

After all the hot syrup is added, continue to beat the mixture until it cools down to room temp. Gradually add the butter a tablespoon at a time. Keep beating and don’t worry if it separates, just keep beating until the buttercream comes back together. 

Assembly:

Start with the meringue, then layer with buttercream, then sprinkle the rough chopped cashews, then top with the meringue and repeat the layering. Once you’ve topped with the last meringue, ice your sansrival with the buttercream and finish with the chopped cashews.

Refrigerate so set for 3 hours.

You can also freeze the sansrival. In fact it is delicious as a frozen treat. 

Sky’s the Limit with a Good Shortcrust

One of my favorite things to make and eat is pie, and all forms of it.  And what better recipe to have in your back pocket than a reliable shortcrust.  

A shortcrust or short dough is 100% flour to 50% butter (in other words twice the amount of flour to butter), seasoned with salt, some sugar, any spice you want, and cut with water. My variation contains an egg yolk per 1 3/4 cup of flour.  The yolk , gives it a little elasticity, perfect for these personal pies pockets with curried vegetables (photo).  This pastry is delicate but strong to contain and hold in your favorite filling, and it stays buttery and flakey when baked.

Shortcrust:

Part of the fun is making this dough by hand. Use your hands to get the feel for when the dough is just right. 

1 3/4 cup   AP flour 

5 1/2 oz.    Cold Butter, grated

Pinch         Salt

1Tbl           Sugar

1/3 cup      Water 

1 each.       Egg Yolk

Combine flour and salt.

Cut the butter into the flour until the consistency is that of medium grain sand.

Add the water and yolk and in the beginning use a wooden spoon to stir. 

Then with your hands form the dough.

Knead for about 5 seconds to form a smooth ball. Then wrap with plastic wrap and rest at room temp for 10 minutes.

For personal pies or empanadas:

( yield depends on the size of the stamp or cut)

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness.

Stamp or cut as desired.

Fill with your choice of filling and use an egg wash to seal.

Brush the dough with more egg wash.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Sourdough Starter Pancakes

If you don’t want to throwing away your starter “discard”, make pancakes! I experimented a few times on the measurements, and finally arrived at an easy, breezy recipe. The recipe worked well when my starter was just a few weeks old, but works even better now, after 2 months of feeding and discarding.

Sourdough Starter Pancakes
Yield: 6 4” rounds

1 cup        Un-fed sourdough starter
1/2 cup     Milk
1 each      Egg, whole
1 tsp.        Sugar
1/4 tsp.     Salt
1/2 tsp.     Baking soda
1/2 cup     All-purpose flour

Place starter in a bowl.
Into a measuring cup, measure milk, add eggs, sugar, salt and beat until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.
Now, add your wet ingredients from the cup and dry ingredients from the small bowl into your starter and whisk.
Cook as you would pancakes.

Enjoy your morning!

Hand Made Ho Fun Noodles

My latest culinary light bulb moment happened very recently while watching a cooking show on TV. The chefs were making a Chinese noodle dish but quickly made a point to say that they made their own ho fun noodles!!! They very quickly mentioned ingredients, proportions  and methodology but not a recipe.  I had to feed the curiosity and researched this and, man oh  man, making ho fun noodles is dead simple.  I highly recommend at least trying making it for yourself:

My recipe for hand made ho fun noodles:

First set up a steamer system that will fit a flat surface (your largest pot with water and a glass or non stick baking tray or sheet over it, tin foil or lid to cover your tray)

Mix together 1/2 cup rice flour to 1 cup water and 2 tsp tapioca starch or corn starch. This mixture should be very liquid so if it is to thick add water.

Grease your tray (very important) and pour a very thin layer of the mixture onto your tray and steam for 8 minutes. Remove from steamer and grease top of this now set sheet of noodle. Roll the sheet and cut noodles to create the ho fun noodles.

Ho Fun Noodles in a Noodle-Egg-Albacore salad

Catering for a Friend

This past weekend, a friend and former kitchen colleague had a beautiful wedding ceremony at a gorgeous puget sound location. The night before, I had the honor of catering the rehearsal dinner for  her very close friends and family.

For many years, I have assisted many chefs in their catering gigs even back when I was just a culinary student.  Catering has it's many quirks. Each event is unique, each site is different and has it's own challenges to overcome and compensate for. 

Yet with challenges and uncertainties, and time not being on my side, the vision was realized.  We were lucky to arrive to a gorgeous water-side house with a fully loaded kitchen, and with a plan, managed to put out the menu without a glitch.

It is a special feeling to have accomplished something of my own - with the help of a couple of supportive friends - but still my own in concept, recipes, flavor profiles, direction, and execution.  It's a true high.

Here are some images:

Theme:  Casual, Family Style BBQ

Menu:

Roasted Vegetables finished with balsamic vinaigrette

Slow Roasted Brisket, Warmed Coleslaw, Pickled Onions, Tomato Jam (not pictured), 

Spicy bbq sauce

Grilled Chicken Breast, Summer Vegetables, Tangy bbq sauce

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette

Herbed Corn Bread

Lemon Merengue Tartlettes

Strawberry-Raspberry Galette

Rhubarb Shortbread

Garde Manger, The Art of Scavenging

Compressed watermelon and heirloom tomato "salad" in balsamic oil

"The person responsible for working with cold food, or the station preparing the cold food in restaurants, is called garde-manger. Often left-overs or unused meats, fish, and vegetables from various parts of the kitchen are funneled to garde-manger station. Sometimes the garde-manger is meant to hunt scraps on his or her own and must be a deft scavenger. The term itself means to keep what is to be eaten." (Excerpt from the book "The Soul of a Chef" by Michael Ruhlman).

Although the modern day garde-manger or the pantry cook is often seen as the soup and salad guy/girl, the original skills and purpose of the garde-manger still applies to the kitchen I work in. What I've learned from manning this station is the true art of scavenging, turning parts of meats, starches, vegetables, and fruits into something presentable and tasty. Here are more images of things scavenged, re purposed, and presented in the dining room:

Salt, brown sugar and fennel cured salmon belly turned to Lomi-lomi salmon, dressed in sesame oil, with tomato, red onion, kaiwari sprouts and crisp fried rice paper.

Bacon-sesame brittle over hazelnut crusted chevre

Brandade (cod cheeks and collar, potatoes) turned to fritters with romesco sauce.

Tart Treats, part 2

The second tart treat I've been excited about is the LEMON POSSET. Lemon posset is not so popular here in the states, but it is a pretty common offering in British restaurants. I had my first posset at The Warehous Cafe in Birmingham England.


Posset or Poshotte was, from Medieval times, a hot drink of milk curdled with wine or ale. The modern lemon posset is a smooth, creamy cold custard similar to a panna cotta. By default it is a citrus dessert because the acid in lemon juice is the component that sets (curdles) the custard. There is no egg yolk, nor gelatin at all but simply lemon juice. I suppose you can try the recipe with orange juice, wine, and even vinegar to achieve the flavor you want.


The posset I prepared is Lemon Posset with raspberry gelee.


The methodology is simple...extremely simple.


The Lemon Posset:


300 ml heavy cream
70 g sugar
2-3 T lemon juice


In a sauce pan bring cream to the boil. Keep boiling for about 3 minutes
Remove from heat and add lemon juice, add more juice to adjust desired tartness
Cool at room temp for about 5 minutes
Place in cups or glasses and in the cooler to set.

I made mine with a layer of raspberry gelee which is optional.


The result is a tart, creamy dessert.

Lemon Posset over Raspberry gelee.