Espresso – MOEdernkitchen.com

Usually for New Years Eve, I get together with my friends in Norway, we make a feast and party in to the early hours of the new year. Great way to start of the year. I usually make the dessert, and this is my addition to this year’s party. I also made the other two courses of the feast for the small party of 30 guests. This dessert is inspired by the great Seattle Coffee bar’s, Slate Coffee Roasters, deconstructed latte. I find their roasting and selection of beans to lend a great addition to desserts. They usually have a lighter roast, full of aroma. You get the fruitiness and complexity of the bean and origin. If you are in the area, you should for sure check out their tasting menu. Best shared between friends or a partner, unless you are really jet lagged. This recipe makes about 6-8 small 200ml (8oz) paper coffee cups.

coffeedessert-000019 — If you don’t want to serve it in a paper cup, you can always class it up a little.

Chocolate Sponge

95g Milk (Whole)
55g Vegetable oil
55g Egg white,
10g Egg yolk,
95g Sugar
55g Cake flour (Bleached)
25g Cocoa Powder (Valrhona Cocoa Powder – Roasted)
2.5g Kosher salt
2 N2O Cartridges (Cream chargers)
60g Espresso (Slate Coffee Finca San Luis)

Cut 3 small holes in the bottom of the paper coffee cup using a knife. I found it best to Combine milk, oil, and eggs to the blender and blend. Add all remaining ingredience and blend until smooth. Pour into a Whipping siphon and charge with 2 cartridges. The batter will raise a lot in the microwave. We want to create a layer that is about 3cm at the bottom of the paper cup. So we want about a little bit less than a 2cm of batter in the cups. The sponge will puff up in the microwave. Knock the cups on a level surface to make sure it is evenly dispersed. Knocking too hard will make the cakes sink together and not become airy and light. Cook in the microwave for 25-30 seconds. Pour table spoon of a freshly pulled shot of Espresso on the sponge once cooled. You can make this dessert gluten free by making this layer with the a dark chocolate cremeux. You can find a good recipe for that at my Secret Stash of Chocolate. Just swap the milk chocolate with a dark chocolate and the hazelnut liqueur with espresso.

White Chocolate Coffee Ganache

25g pour-over Coffee (Slate Coffee Kibugu Washed)
50g White Chocolate (Valrhona Ivoire 35%)

Bring the Coffee up to a boil. The coffee I used is very fruity and lends itself well to this preparation. To substitute I would recommend a light roast coffee that you like. Pour the coffee over the chocolate. Make sure you get every last drop. Stir until all the chocolate is melted. If you are not getting it fully melted, gently melt using a bain marie or microwave. Pour two table spoons of the mixture on top of the cooled sponge with espresso. This will soak into the sponge a little.

Latte Creme

50g Heavy Whipping Cream
75g Mascarpone

Mix Mascarpone with the milk until you have a smooth and no lumps. Pour two table spoons of the mixture on top to the Coffee Ganache. Place the cup back in the freezer to set.

coffeedessert

Cold Brew Gel

200g Cold Brew Coffee (Slate Coffee All-Nighter)
1.3g Agar Agar

In a pot with the coffee add Agar Agar. Heat the coffee mixture to above 90c and make sure the Agar is stirred in well. Remove from heat. When the temperature drops to 50c, pour two table spoons of the liquid on top of the Latte Creme in the cup. Agar agar sets at 35-45c, and it sets rapidly. Place the cup in the fridge to set.

See you next time. Hungry Eyes Full Heart, Can’t Lose!

Usual lazy Sunday tradition consists of going to Ballard Farmers Market in the early morning, watch Football, American Football, or any other sports that are in playoffs. And making some food with my old roommate from college and great friend, Gualtiero. At the market, I browsing all the treats that are on offer. There are a few stands I always gravitate to, Pasteria Lucchese and Skagit River Ranch, they have such amazing products. Pasteria Lucchese is run by a true Italian, he is quite the character and amazing to chat with. Always helpful and encouraging. If you don’t get there early enough, many of the different pastas are sold out. He got me inspired to make my own Pappardelle pasta and my take on a classic tomato based Ragu.

Egg Pasta

170g tipo 00 flour
55g durum semolina flour
9 egg yolks
15ml olive oil
45 ml water

In a food processor combine the 00 flour (All Purpose flour can be substituted) and semolina flour, add the egg yolks and pulse to get it slightly mixed. As you have the machine going, slowly add in the water and oil until the dough comes together into a crumbly texture. Pour the dough out on a floured workbench and kneed the dough. This is to activate the gluten in the dough. Kneed for a few minutes. The dough will be soft and not sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. The gluten protein needs to rest before you can roll it out and cook it. Let it rest at least 30 minutes, but can rest up to 24 hours. Once rested get your pasta roller out and again flour (use semolina) the workbench. Cut the pasta dough into 4 even pieces and using your hand form to a flat oval disc. Run through the pasta machine until you get to 5 on the thickness dial on the machine. Gaultiero were keeping a watchful eye for quality control (checkout his pasta dishes). Gently fold the rolled pasta lengthwise and cut the pasta into 15mm thick ribbons. Hang or spread to dry a little bit before cooking in salted water (water should be as salt as the sea). This pasta dough can be used for other types of pasta (filled, lasagna, or ribbon pasta).

Short Rib Ragu

2 Carrots
2 Shallots
2 Celery ribs
500g Short ribs (bone in, medium to large pieces)
100ml Red wine (Bold Italian wine is preferred, I used a Masi Campofiorin)
180ml Tomato paste
180ml Beef stock
180ml Water
25g Dried Chanterelle mushrooms
100g Fresh Button mushrooms

I started the day before by sous vide the short ribs at 85c for 24 hours. Ideally you time the sous vide to be done when the sauce is done. Skagit River Ranch had some amazing Wagyu Short ribs that I used. If you are looking for some of the best meat, Skagit River Ranch got you covered. I have not had anything from them that have not been top notch. Go early to make sure you get some of the world’s best bacon. For the base of the ragu I start with rehydrate the dried mushrooms in the hot water for 30 minutes. Make sure to not toss away the leftover mushroom stock. Finely chop up the carrots, shallots, and Celery. In a pot add a little bit of oil and the chopped vegetables. Allow the shallots to caramelize and add the finely chopped dried and fresh mushrooms before deglazing with red wine. Once the red wine have reduced to about half add in the beef and mushroom stocks as well as tomato paste. Leave the pot on medium heat and reduce the liquid by half again. At the end add the short ribs (chopped/shredded, with no bones) to the sauce and let marry for 30 minutes on low heat. Add a little water if the ragu seems a little dry.

PappardelleShortribRagu — Egg Pappardelle Pasta with Short Rib Red Wine Ragu

Boil the pasta until you get a slight chewy texture (al dente) and bring together with the ragu. The overall dish had a good texture from both the fresh pasta and falling apart tender short ribs. A nice sweetness from the tomatoes and mirepoix .The Chanterelle mushrooms and red wine really brought a deep rich flavor that just keeps you going in for more. Grate a little bit of Parmesan and finely chop some Italian parsley to sprinkle over the top. Served with a glass of red wine.

Affogato

To round of the meal, Gualtiero brought with him the Mokapot and some ice cream to make a sweet finish. He chose to use an Italian espresso blend for the coffee and Talenti Chocolate Caramel Gelato. Talenti makes an incredible selection of ice cream, gelato, and sorbet. I love Talenti’s line of desserts, as well as Snoqualmie Creme Fraiche ice cream.

See you next time. Hungry Eyes Full Heart, Can’t Lose!

Category: Espresso

Deconstructed Layered Caffee Latte