This is a variation of one of my older recipes, literally the first dessert I made at ten-01.  I learned this one from Tony, of course, and I’ve been tweaking it ever since.  If you review the earlier version, you’ll notice a few changes in the recipe below.  Firstly, the weights have changed.  Somewhere along the line, while converting it for various applications, I skewed the amounts.  The newer proportions reflect just how many times I’ve made this recipe, how many times I’ve observed it’s subtleties.  Chef actually improved upon its technique by mistake while I was in Europe.  Anyway, here’s whats changed and why.

This recipe contains all my favorite ingredients; butter, chocolate, eggs, sugar, and booze.  I was taught to melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler Then whisk together the sugar and the eggs.  Then, when the chocolate was melted, everything was whisked together with the booze and baked in a water bath in ten inch cake pans.  When baked and thoroughly cooled we glazed them with a one to one ganache and sliced them in 16 portions.  Onto a marble and out to the buffet.   Simple and decadently effective.  The main trick then (and now) was knowing when to pull them from the oven.  They never really look baked, all loose and jiggly.  It’s still a kind of leap of faith for me when I pull them.  I find myself touching them every five minutes until they cool and solidify.

At Carlyle this recipe started to evolve.  The original recipe, just cut in half, was giving me some great results. I realized at this point how similar this cake was to cheesecake, and I treat cheesecake like a custard. I started baking it at a  lower temperature, and turning off the oven for the last half hour of baking.  A thick, fudgey texture was my reward.  I started trying different molds, and building up creamy layers.  The best version at those times was with passionfruit, I wanted to call it Sexual Chocolate.

For my tasting at ten-01, I baked the cake in a small ring mold and served it with brown butter ice cream.  It was over the top rich and showed I wasn’t afraid to knock people unconscious with chocolate.  At least that’s what I kept telling myself as they ate it (”They don’t hate you, they don’t hate you, they don’t even KNOW you, man!”)  I got the job, needless to say, and the cake ended up on the first menu.  I started to bake it in frames around this time, and that marks the first change in the recipe’s proportions.  Every time I pulled the 1/2 sheet cakes from the oven, the tops were just pooled with butter.  I think this happened because the cakes where to big to cook through before basically breaking.  I tried varying oven temperatures, mixing techniques, and finally ended up just reducing the amount of butter.  The cake had a slightly more crumbly texture but was still dense and fudgy.  Chef suggested I started serving the cake at room temperature. Chef knows a lot about food.  Much like cheese, the cake was way better at room temp. He actually improved upon the recipe by mistake, confusing the bread pudding technique with this one and whipped it on high speed for over 15 minutes. The cake melted in the mouth, inducing groaning.  This version of the cake sold really well. It seemed like it was around forever.  I started to get bored with it.  I replaced it with another Tony Classic and tried to forget about it.

Fast forward three or four menus.  The servers are clamoring for a rich, knock-out chocolate dessert.  The stupid Guinness brownie thing just wasn’t working.  Marble Cheesecake?  Yeah, kind of, but not quite.  Scouring the internet for ideas,  I came across this.  The tenth item on McCormick’s 2008 Flavor Forecast was rubbed sage and rye whiskey.  Things started to click into place in my mind; the hamster running in its wheel turned the lock’s tumblers to open my mind on a new idea.  I knew whiskey and chocolate worked.  Would I use whiskey in the cake or in the sauce?  I knew how to make a kick-ass mint ice cream, would it work with sage? And would it go with the rich fudginess of the cake?   As it turns out, it does.  Famously.  I remember standing in the walk-in waiting for the ice cream base to cool down enough to spin.  I had some whiskey caramel left over form the Guinness brownie.  I spooned the caramel into my mouth followed by the sage base.  Closing my eyes, nodding, I reached to the top shelf for a beer…it was time to celebrate.

“Oh wait…” I thought, “…it’s only 6:30.”  I started straight away making a batch of flourless chocolate cake. Scanning over the ingredients, I encountered a problem.  I’ve only made this recipe with alcohol.  It’s always been whiskey, or Grand Mariner or Bailey’s or something.  I knew this recipe really well and just knew that I had to come up something to use in the place of whiskey, 3/4 of a cup of what, dammit, air?  Suddenly it hit me.  Water.

This batch of cakes,  baked in my handy new flexipans, was one of the best I’ve created.  Fudgy, of course, but the main flavor was chocolate. Not booze, but chocolate.  Water made this possible.  Having worked in pastry for a few years, this really struck me.  Water, the arch-nemesis of chocolate, was helping me showcase chocolate in this recipe.  Sometimes when things seem weird at first, proper handling can produce fantastic results.  Water is now my new favorite ingredient.  Even chocolate isn’t scared anymore.  I  even used the two together it in the mirror glaze.  Anyway, enough of my jawing, here’s the recipes for my faithful readers, and also for the readers of the Willamette Week, who will find this cake in the October 15th Restaurant Guide.

 Chocolate Flourless Cake

1 pound 14 ounces chocolate (64%)

1 pound 8 ounces butter

15 ounces eggs

15 ounces sugar

3/4 cup water

1.  Pre-heat your convection oven to 200 F.

2.  Weigh the chocolate into a bowl and set aside.

3.  Weigh the butter into a sauce pot, and bring it to a boil.

4.  Weigh the eggs and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip light and fluffy.

5.  Pour the boiling butter over the chocolate, give the bowl a shake and a spin and let stand two minutes.

6.  Whisk the chocolate until smooth.

7.   Fold the whipped eggs into the  melted chocolate, then fold in the water.

8.   Pour the batter into the flexipans and bake in a water bath until set, about 30 minutes.

9.  Cool properly and chill thoroughly before demolding and glazing.

Mirror Glaze

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

9 ounces chocolate

enough hot water to reach desired consistency

1.  Weigh the chocolate into a bowl.

2.  Measure the corn syrup and heavy cream into a sauce pot and bring to a boil.

3. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate, give the bowl a shake and a spin and let stand two minutes.

4. Whisk the chocolate until smooth.

5.  Whisk in enough hot water to make the glaze loose and pour easily.

Assembly- Set the de-molded  cakes on a glazing rack and ladle the hot glaze over the cakes.  Chill the cakes and apply a second coat.  Serve at room temperature with Sage Ice Cream and Whiskey Caramel.

If you aren’t reading IDEAS IN FOOD, my faithful readers, You should be.  I look forward to their frequent blog posts.  Food Porn in it’s purest form.  Innovation through science.  Pictured here is chicken skin crusted skate with rhubarb mustard, shrimp spaetzle, arugula and fresh bergamot.  Chicken skin crusted!?!  And what the hell is bergamot?  Seriously, Cheers to you Ideas In Food Chefs.  I want to eat your blog.  How could I not?  32 preparations of Foie Gras?  And what about Hot Ice Cream?  Amazing stuff here guys.  Best food in the Blogosphere.  Look at this Torchon!!

I ran this dessert as a special last weekend and it sold pretty well. With milk chocolate sauce and hazelnut praline, it looked sharp and tasted delicious. The chocolate base is Tony’s truffle sponge, almost a brownie but with egg whites folded in. The central crunchy layer was a caramel candy filling, which I augmented with a little milk chocolate and feuilletine. The mousse was a new recipe, one I found on Cuisine French. The recipe caught my eye because it assumed a certain level of knowledge and technique. For example, step three in the recipe states “prepare a custard with the milk, sugar, constarch, and egg yolks.”  That’s my kind of recipe. The praline garnish, I’m embarrassed to say, is isomalt.  This synthetic sugar always makes me feel like a cheater, a corner-cutter and a hack.  It is a beautiful garnish however, so I guess it’s OK.  I learned how to make those over ten years ago now.  Hmph….I’m getting old.  Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at the restaurant,  things have been picking up.  The Oregoinian released an excellent review of us last week, and we’ve been seeing increasing numbers. I couldn’t find the review online…even without mention of the desserts-it was a good one.  

Another Spirit dinner hosted by Kelley Swenson and Timothy Davey. The two passionate mixologists poured Italian bitters, and Jack and Anthony were cooking in the street. The sun sunk low in the sky and filled The Cleaners with an ethereal light. At the door we were handed a tall orange cocktail which refreshed us thoroughly. We sat at he head of one side of the large L shaped table. Godfather footage was being projected onto the wall. The Chefs laid down some sweet courses and the bartenders offered educational interludes with the drinks. A bright and fresh tuna tartare with rhubarb and pine nuts, a tea smoked duck breast that I can still taste if I think about it. A Compari cocktail that I knew Tony 2 Fingers was drinking in the back. Jaybill and I enjoyed the food and cocktail pairings, the conversation at the table was nerdy, and laughing, we sipped our drinks. Third course was a trio of scallops, Foie, and pork belly paired with three shots. This was a really fun dish. The richness of each of the items washed down with a syrupy spirit. The infused herbs and vegetables in the bitters trumped us. My head was buzzing with delight. I felt an elation that would last the rest of the night. As our lamb T-bone floated over, I floated in my seat. Elbows hit the table, and the tiny bones were chewed clean without looking up. I almost forgot my drink as I took a breath. Delicious!! A weird sensation coursed through me as I thought about my day so far. Getting to work and spinning ice cream and baking cookies, I picked mint as Jack and Tony prepped. I helped Jack set up the Foie mousse, and when my brother met me at the restaurant I carried it down the street. A few months ago I was thinking about getting out of this business, and now I’m carrying little votives of pureed Foie Gras across Burnside. Attending a nerdy white tablecloth foodie dinner where I actually know a few people. Chef introducing me to the crowd as I sit there half-drunk, waving. “That’s right…I make the cookies!” Jack waved me over to verify mint plouche placement. We fell into a methodical rhythm of plating. I smiled as Chef scooped, and Tony and I sandwiched the cookies onto the plates. I returned to my seat and gulped at my mini Fernet cocktail. I took a bite of the ice cream sandwich. I slowly nodded my head. Then we peaced.

People go nuts for this dessert. Eyes pop out of people’s heads. It changes worlds. Even Chef cleaned his plate and he rarely does with sweets. So it’s this month’s Creative Presentation of the Week. Just a little New York Style Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries and Hazelnut Scone. As I look at the plate now, I marvel at how I put TWO leaves of mint. C’mon dude! It’s a basic cheesecake recipe I learned from Mark Metzger at the Vail Cascade. I used it also at Carlyle for the cheesecake three ways. Thanks Mark!! The balsamic strawberries were Chef’s idea, and after some tinkering we reproduced them. Look at those babies! All glistening and shit. The “crust” on this cheesecake comes form of scone. I always liked scones for strawberry shortcakes and this dish had strawberries so I thought, what the F. Toasted hazelnuts and sugar crust it up. It’s a little weird, sure, but damn yummy. My faithful readers need these recipes. So…here:

Metzger NY Cheesecake

1 1/2 # cream cheese at room temp

6 oz sugar

Pulp of 1 vanilla bean

3 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 250 (200 for convection.) Place the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla pulp in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on low speed for 5 minutes

2. Scrape the bowl thoroughly with a spatula.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time scraping thoroughly between each addition. The more careful you are here, the better your end product. Add and scrape!! Visualize that nipple in the bottom of the mixing bowl, and scrape it well!!

4. Transfer the batter to a square flexible mold.

5. Bake in a water bath for 25 minutes, then rotate the pan, and bake for another 15 minutes.

6. At this point, the cheesecake should be set on the outsides, and slightly jiggly in the middle. Open the oven door for a sec, then close it and turn the oven off. Set a timer for 45 minutes. I finish all of my custards this way, it works really well. Thanks Alton.

7. Chill the cake for at least 3 hrs before attempting to de-mold and slice. I usually flash mine in the freezer for about 25 minutes to get a clean square.

Balsamic Strawberries

3 cups balsamic vinegar

1 cup honey

granulated sugar to taste

2 vanilla beans scraped

2 pods toasted star anise

2 1/2 - 3 cups hulled local strawberries

1. Measure the balsamic and honey into a pot and whisk to combine. Whisk in the the sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach the desired sweetness. Remember the strawberries have a good sweetness as well.

2. Scape the vanilla pods into the pot and bring the mix to a boil.

3. Add the berries and kill the heat. Cover and steep for 25-30 minutes until berries are tender but still slightly firm. They will carry over, so…

4. Create an ice bath with water, ice and two vessels. Stop the cooking process.

5. Carefully pour the steeped berries and liquid into the ice bath. Try not to agitate the berries as they cool, they become very fragile.

Scones

I left the scone recipe at work. Eat your fucking cheesecake. Here’s a good scone recipe for you. And here’s a picture of some ice creams.

So we’ve all had creme brulee, and we’ve all had peanut butter and jelly, but who out there among my faithful readers has had PB&J Creme Brulee?  I love this fucking dessert.  I think it deserves Creative Presentation of the Week. Why, you may ask?  Well, it’s the culmination of alot of hard work, during which I subsisted on pb&j sandwiches, and also, I’ve known this peanut butter custard recipe was solid since The Velvet Elvis. This idea had been struggling to come out, and it took the influence of Chef Jack Yoss to see it’s realization.  I made him the peanut butter brulee to try and he suggested putting marionberry jam into the ramekin first, ’cause he loved the custard…and he loves pb&j, too.  We first tried it in our regular brulee molds, but after one day the jam would seep through the custard and create this gnarly looking scar when you tried to brulee it.  We went to a deeper dish to avoid that problem, and also started reducing the jam first to remove any excess moisture.  House made honey roasted peanuts are sprinkled on after carmelizing the custard.  The shot of chocolate milk actually came about because of a guest suggestion:  it was good, but needed chocolate.  After some experimentaion, I went with good old Hersheys choclolate syrup to make it because let’s face it, that’s what chocolate milk is.  A little heavy cream adds some creaminess, as if this dish needed it.  This is my favorite item on the current menu…I don’t know why we don’t sell more of them…C’MON PEOPLE!!!  The only thing missing is the bread, and you had some with your salad!!  Anyway, here’s the recipes:

Peanut Butter & Jelly Brulee
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
6 tablespoons plus 6 teaspoons sugar
5+ oz creamy peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned style or freshly ground)
8 large egg yolks

marionberry jam as needed (or any other jam that you prefer)

1. Combine milk, cream, sugar and scald

2. Temper in eggs

3. Temper in peanut butter and whisk until smooth

4. Taste the cream.  I always end up adding a little more peanut butter, up to 1 cup

5. Strain the cream and chill overnight or at least three hours.

6. Place the jam in a saucepot and reduce it by one-third over low heat, stirring occasionally.

7. Cool the jam slighty and then spread it in an even layer into the bottom of desired (deep) ramekin.  Pop them in the freezer to set the jam.

8.  When the jam is super cold and won’t be distured by pouring in the custard, pour in the custard

9.  Bake the custard in a 300 degree oven, in a water bath for 30 minutes or so, or until set at the edges, and a little loose at the center.  Open the oven, turn it off, close the door,  and finish them for another 45 minutes.

10.  Chill the brulee’s for at least 3 hours before sprinkling some granulated sugar and a blowtorch to carmelize.  Sprinkle with loose chopped honey roasted peanuts if desired.

Chocolate Milk

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

10 oz Hershey’s Syrup

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend.  Serve ice cold in a chilled glass.

Damn I been busy.  I have so much to tell you faithful readers, that I have no idea where to begin.  I have been one busy pastry chef.  I suppose I’ll start with decribing The Creative Presentation of the Week, pictured above.  Chef Jack Yoss does it again with another incarnation of Bacon and Eggs.  Here we have Quail Egg  in The Basket, with  Wigwam Virginia Ham  and seared Foie.  This was served as a special for a guest that often asks Chef to “make up something new.”  I’ve been learning alot from Jack, most recently the invaluable assembly of the Foie Gras Torchon. They came out so beautiful and delicious, but I enjoyed it most served atop a piece of tuna.  Business at the restaurant is picking up after the post-holiday lull, and It’s getting wild. This past Monday we did a Chartreuse Dinner, then Valentine’s Day,  then a record Friday and Saturday nights.  The Chartreuse dinner was fun, our bar manager Kelley and Chef created a menu with Chartreuse cocktail pairings.  We had Arugula Salad, Glazed Pork Belly with Deviled Quail Egg, Duck Breast with Mushroom Coffee Jus, and Squab with Lobster Ragout.  Every course was paired with a Chartreuse cocktail. My dessert, pictured below, was Chartreuse Truffle Cake with Mint Chocolate Sauce and Chartreuse Ice Cream.  I pulled out the sugar for this one and made some leaves.  It could have come out cleaner, but I was happy with the flavor.  It’s been a while since I’ve used a modular mold, but they’ve got great potential.   It’s cool seeing something come from concept to plate.  Also made by me was a take on the Last Word cocktail, form of boozy syrup and lime sorbet.

Here’s my Brioche Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, which when alligned correctly, will open a portal to another universe.  Okay that’s a lie.  You will definitely find it delicious.  We’re calling the sauce a blood orange reduction, but it’s really a caramel sauce that uses blood orange puree instead of heavy cream.  A quenelle of whipped orange mascarpone cream holds down the orange zest chocolate tuile.  That cookie is a sonofabitch to make.  I break one in three, so I started baking just two at a time.  With a baking time of five minutes, I can get six cookies in about twenty minutes…which sucks.  The plate looks bangin’ though, and the bread pudding scraps keep the staff happy.  In other news, people are checking out Ten-01 because of this blog.  I’ll be damned.  I met with a table the other night who’ve read mrjeffmccarthy.com  and even mentioned the Irish Car Bomb.  They’re mom even blogged about them meeting me!  I’ve also started selling some of my desserts at The Armory Cafe, and they are going over well.  I’m going to start making them flatbread pizza’s, almond tarts, and maybe some form of high end hot pocket.  Still eating well, Mom!  Check out this Lamb Chop dinner cooked up for me by our grill cook Richard! Goat Cheese Gnocchi…Yum!!

So we’ve all had Beef Tartare, or at least we all should have had it, but how many of us have eaten it from a crispy parmesan cone?  Chef whipped this up as part of a five course dinner for his fiancee Meghan’s Birthday.  The chorizo oil really makes this plate pop, but I wanted to eat that little cone so bad!  I need to start taking pictures of the food that’s on the menu, it all looks as scrumptous as this.  This week Chef was away in New York doing a James Beard Dinner , but us cooks held down the kitchen admirably while he was gone.  Good training goes a long way, and so does confidence in your crew.  I’m still eating very well, there often seems to be a random duck leg laying around, which I will happily take care of.  Here’s one below prepared by saute cook Micheal, with carrots, mushrooms and sprouts.