Norwegian – MOEdernkitchen.com

She saw the bright sun, and all around her floated hundreds of transparent beautiful beings; she could see through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little mermaid perceived that she had a body like theirs, and that she continues to rise higher and higher out of the foam.

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Continuing the tradition from last year, Joe from Measure and Stir and I wanted to make another set of cocktail and bites. This year we wanted to focus on fairy tales, and we selected a few of our favorite classics. We start of with The Little Mermaid by H.C. Andersen. More specific the Disney retelling of the story is what inspired this dish

In the Disney version there was a different ending, but for the cocktail we wanted to bring the original its glory. We wanted to show case both in this first course. On the plate we have Sebastian, Ariel, Ursula, and Eric. Both worlds are separated by the beach. The cocktail is a Sea Foam cocktail as all Mermaids end as sea foam. The little mermaid were gifted with a soul for all the humane suffering she endured for her love. You can read more about the cocktail here, Out of the Fathomless Deep.

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A World a Part

80g Wagyu Beef
50g Octopus
50g King Crab
40g Salmon
15g Sun Toasted Sand
5g Sea Foam

Sun Toasted Sand:

100g Toasted Rye Bread
100g Toasted Panko
50g Toasted Pine Nuts
30g Butter Snow
5g Dried and Toasted Wakame
5g Grated Palm Sugar
5g Sea Salt
5g Lemon Zest
2g MSG

Butter Snow:

30g Clarified Butter
10g Olive Oil
18g Tapioca Maltodextrin

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Sea Foam:

50g Kombu
50g Bonito Flakes
200g Water
5g Sucrose Ester

First start off by making your Butter Snow by mixing the butter, oil and Tapioca Maltodextrin. The mixture should remind you of light fluffy snow. Toast up your breads and Pine Nuts to get them extra crispy. Once they are toasted combine with the Wakame and Lemon zest, coarsely grind. Balance the sand with salt and sugar.

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For plating I cooked the Wagyu steak (Prince Eric) Sous Vide at 54c for an hour. As King Crab (Sebastian) is not in season we had to settle for frozen, which was steamed back to life, sprinkled with a little fresh chopped parsley. The Salmon (Ariel) were quickly brined in a concentrated brine. This is to firm up the flesh and make it more vibrant. The Octopus (Ursula) we got pre-cooked from Seattle’s Pike Place Market famous fish monger. They cooked the Octopus super tender, not chewy at all. Place on top of the sand and add your sea foam. Decorate with seaweed. Bring the Kombu, Bonito flakes, and water to a boil and let the mixture steep for 30 minutes. Once cooled, strain and add the sucrose ester and whip with a as much air into as you can. This ester will create light fluffy bubbles similar to a sea foam. Skim the foam off the top and place on your plate.

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

I have long been wanting to create the latest craze of the Internet, Entremet. You may know them as the shiny cream cakes you see people post, with mirror like glaze. As it is fall season here in Seattle I wanted to take advantage of the great apples Washington has to offer. This is my take on a classic Norwegian dessert – Tilslørte Bondepiker. Traditionally it is layers of apple compote, whipped cream, and toasted breadcrumbs in butter. Inspired by Savour School in Australia I created my own Entremet staying true to the flavors of the original dessert, but also elevating it to the next level.

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Apple Compote

2kg Honey Crisp Apples (Peeled and Cored)
50g Sugar
5g Malic Acid (Adjust to your level of tartness)
60ml Calvados

Cut the apples in to medium sized cubes and stew them down with sugar over medium-low heat until you get a jammy apple compote. Remove from heat and add Calvados and Malic Acid. There is going to be sweetness in other layers, so you really want to make the apple’s tartness come forward, but not a full lip-puckering tart. Allow to cool to room temperature. Using a cheese cloth, drain most of the excess water from the apples if there is any. This will ensure that you have a nice firm texture of apple. Create a 2-3mm even layer on a baking sheet and place in freezer.

Butter Biscuit

125g Butter
65g Sugar
2g Vanilla Extract
50g Egg
260g Pastry Flour
15g Milk
5g Baking Powder

Cream the butter and sugar together and add the egg, mix until well combined. Sift flour and baking powder over butter mixture. Add milk and stir until just combined. Bake at 180c for Crumble the biscuits and saute in the butter. You want the crumbs to become golden and crunchy. Create a 2-3mm even layer on a baking sheet and place in freezer. This layer can also be made as a granola to add a more rustic chew to the dessert.

Bourbon Caramel Sauce

175ml Sugar
60ml Water
240ml Heavy Cream
30ml Bourbon
10g Butter

Heat sugar and water in a pot over medium-high heat until it turns a nice amber color. Be careful as caramel goes quickly from amber to burnt if you are not paying attention. Pull pot away from the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir and put it back on to the heat but reduce the heat to medium-low. Once the caramel has thickened remove from the heat and carefully add the bourbon and butter. Stir and let cool. If you have a condiment bottle this is a practical to use for storing the caramel sauce.

Cinnamon Bourbon Custard

250g Heavy Cream
125g Whole Milk
115g Egg Yolk
50g Sugar
10g Toasted Cinnamon (ground)
5g Cinnamon (ground)
14g Gelatin (Powder)

In a pot on the stove whisk and heat all the ingredients, except for the gelatin, until it reaches about 80c. Make sure there is nothing burning on the bottom and the eggs doesn’t scramble. Stir constantly until the mixture is enough to coast the back of the spoon. Let the mixture cool to 65c and add the Gelatin while continue to whisk. Once it is cooled to room temperature place in a piping back and leave out until you are ready to pipe the molds for assembly.

Assembly

To assemble use any mold you like. Silicon molds are awesome for this aspect and they come in many shapes and sizes. I used specifically a Silikomart ‘Stone’ mold. It creates nice curved edges and a create size for this dessert. Take your two baking sheets out of the freezer and use a cookie cutter to cut out pieces that will fit inside the mold you use. Make sure there a little room on the sides so that the layers of apple compote and biscuit crumbs before you encased in Cinnamon Custard. Easiest way I found was to pipe in the custard into the mold and take a stack of Apple Compote, Bourbon Caramel, and Butter Biscuit and gently press into the custard. Make sure they fill the mold completely and doesn’t overflow. Place back in the freezer to make them frozen solid. I used a glaze from Savour School to get that mirror shine finish. As the entremet is setting up make the glaze. It will need some time to cool to the correct pouring temperature. I split mine into two batches, so that I could create that green and red Apple look. Allow entremet to setup and defrost at room temperature before eating. I know it is hard to not eat them all, but worth the wait.