White Sapote

I stumbled across this fruit at my local grocer, and the produce guy was so convincing of this fruit’s deliciousness that I had to pick up a few. It’s called white sapote, a member of the citrus family that comes from Central America and Mexico. It’s somewhere between a peach and an apricot in size and has a soft, fleshy pulp similar to an avocado with multiple pits.

The fruit starts off green and firm and ripens to a yellow color. This can happen pretty quickly, so if you leave it out to ripen, watch it so it doesn’t go over. When ripe, unlike other citrus, there is no acidity. It’s sweet and custard-y with notes of vanilla, pear and banana – if there is any tinge of bitter, it’s still unripe (I learned this the hard way!). It’s unlike any other fruit except possible the custard apple or cherimoya, which also have a sweet, custard-like texture.

Interestingly enough, the fruit was referred to in a Mexican dialect as “sleep sapote” because it has soporific (sleep-inducing) effects. Although the fruit is harmless, the seeds apparently contain narcotic compounds, so don’t eat them!

Finger Limes and a Superstorm

I am writing this one week since Hurricane Sandy took center stage in New York City – a sandy, watery, windy whirlwind leaving some of us lucky and merely power/internet/cell service-less and others devastated. The week was a suspension of normal life and while some of us have gone back to work, others are still dealing with the after effects of the storm.

I have to share ways to help. Edible Manhattan sums up some ways to eat for a good cause, and Gothamist does a fundraiser round up of its own. Huffington Post has an updated list of organizations that are helping and ways to get involved, and, of course, the Food Bank of New Yorkis a great way to start.

Now, on to a much less important but still very interesting discovery I had this week: finger limes. Although I’ve read about them for quite some time, I’ve never gotten an up close and personal look at them until recently. Finger limes are mainly grown in Australia, though there are a few growers in the U.S. selling them as well. They are indeed limes in the shape of fingers, but the quirkiness extends beyond that.

Crack open one of these little luscious fruits, and instead of traditional citrus pulp, there are tiny bubbles of citrus juiciness. Think: citrus caviar. The little balls burst in your mouth – it’s like nature’s original spherification (without the molecular gastronomy part). A girlfriend of mine described it as a burst of zesty freshness in her mouth!

The flavor to me is very much like the scent of kaffir lime – lemon-limey with grassy and floral notes. I love the texture and could easily see layering this on a tiradito or crudo dish or in lieu of caviar with crème fraiche for a quick, crostini appetizer. It would be gorgeous with desserts – I’m just hoping we see more of this in the markets, so I can make a recipe to share with you all!

Lemon-Orange Blossom “Pots de Crème”

As a chef, one of the most thrilling things I experience is when I learn a new little trick or technique that makes a dish that much better (or that much easier!). I remember when I was in Turkey and witnessed a shortcut that would make baklava a quick and easy affair. And how in Ethiopian cuisine, warming chopped beef and bathing in spiced butter made a steak tartare truly legendary. It’s those little technique plays that are gratifying and why I’m so happy with this week’s lemon-orange blossom “pots de crème” recipe…

I recently read a recipe where lemon juice set a custard by simply being added to hot cream and then refrigerating. ?!?! I’ve used lemon juice in hot milk to break it and form cheese – it causes curdling, so to hear you could just add it like that and create a custard seemed quite frankly magical!

The good news is…it’s true! And so, of course, I tested a few recipes and came up with this one, which I think creates the best texture and combines the lovely citrus-y lemon with one of my favorite secret ingredients, orange blossom water. With traditional pots de crème, you have to make the custard one of the old school-styles (the two ways are, roughly: stirred on the stovetop or baked in the oven), which is to say scald cream and flavors, add egg yolks and bake in a low slow water bath until jiggly perfection like this one…. This is waaay simpler: heat cream with flavors, add lemon juice, refrigerate for a few hours…and that’s it! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 6 5-inch oval ramekins

2 ½ cups heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

3 tbsps honey

2 ½ tbsps orange blossom water*

1 tbsp lemon zest

7 tbsps lemon juice

Procedure

In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, vanilla bean, salt, sugar, honey, orange blossom water and lemon zest up to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep 20 minutes. Gently stir in lemon juice and strain cream mixture. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours until thickened (these can definitely be made a day or two ahead of time).

Serve well-chilled with fruit, if desired.

*The amount of orange blossom water really depends on the brand you are using. For mine, I used 2 ½ tablespoons, but taste yours as you add to make sure it doesn’t become too cloying.

Unique Citrus in NYC

We are smack dab in the middle of citrus season, and, yesterday, I came across a few different types that I had never eaten, cooked with, possibly seen before! One, called the Buddha’s hand, is not in this picture because it was $30 per lb (basically for the single fruit), and I couldn’t bring myself to spend that slash I would rather spend that on something that will last longer – say, truffle oil and some beauty products….It’s worth checking out though just for its grotesquely interesting shape and the fact that it’s used to make citron vodka. So the citrus I ended up actually buying are pictured above and are Rangpur limes and mandarinquats.

I went all in and just bit into the Rangpur lime, which is lime in name only and is the larger rounder fruit. Not necessarily the wisest thing to do, BUT I got a full sense of the flavor – super sour in a bright lemony way with a honeyed sweetness and perfume. The fruit is actually a cross between a mandarin and a lemon, so, at least, my taste suspicions were confirmed (that’s exactly what it tastes like though with the lemon predominating).

The mandarinquat flesh was also shockingly sour. As the name implies, this one is a cross between a mandarin and a kumquat and has that signature bell shape. I grew up with a kumquat tree in the backyard and have many happy memories of illicit tree-climbing (eschewing the “fall and break your head” adage) and kumquat-eating to my heart’s content. Here, the peel is eaten with the flesh and sweetens it up quite a bit. In fact, the peel has a sweet spice-like quality where the flesh resembles a sour orange.

When I think of cooking with either of these, my mind straight away goes to cocktails! The thought of a Pisco sour using a Rangpur lime sounds just about right, or candying the peel of the mandarinquat and using the peel and syrup in a simple vodka-based drink. Of course, both of these would be beautiful in desserts, as a riff on lemon meringue pie or a fruit mousse. I think I would just pour that syrup and candied mandarinquat peel on vanilla ice cream for my very own creamsicle and call it a day. Thoughts?

Yuzu-Basil Rickey

The art of the summer cocktail…something light, refreshing, icy cool, perfect for a summer bbq or a breezy night out on the porch (or stoop as the case may be), and preferably in a pitcher so friends can help themselves! I personally love something that has a tart-sweetness to it like a mojito, caipirinha, or a spiked lime rickey, which was the inspiration for this drink.

I’ve talked a bit about yuzu in the past, but, basically, it’s a Japanese citrus that has an interesting flavor mix of lime, grapefruit and mandarin with a musky and slightly salty quality to it. It’s rarely found fresh here, but a bottle of yuzu juice from the Asian market will last forever (a few dashes go a long way). I love it in salad dressings, anywhere I might use lemon, and particularly in cocktails like this one.

A lime rickey is pretty simple – usually it’s made from fresh lime juice, carbonated water, and sometimes simple syrup to sweeten. My take here replaces lime juice with lemon and yuzu juices, includes club soda, and is spiked with vodka. The very simple syrup gets infused with fresh basil leaves, which complements the yuzu incredibly. This drink goes down a bit too easy if you know what I mean (what vodka?), but truly it’s my perfect summer drink – flavorful and totally refreshing. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Serves 8 to 10

1 ¼ cups water

1 ¼ cups sugar

10 to 12 leaves of basil

¾ cup lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp yuzu juice

2 ¾ cups club soda

1 ¼ cup vodka

Procedure

First, make the basil-infused simple syrup. In a saucepan, heat the water, sugar and basil stirring until water comes up to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain and cool.

In a large pitcher, mix together the remaining ingredients with the cooled simple syrup. It’s best to let it chill for a few hours for the flavors to come together, but it’s still great right away.

Serve the yuzu-basil rickey over ice.

“Morir Soñando” Semifreddo

Food phases. I don’t know if any of you have them, but I go through periods of craving where I want the same thing over and over again. In college, I had this extended phase with Dominican food. For dinner, I would trek out to an area of town where there was a big Latin American community. The Dominican spots were amazing! And for like $5, you would get a heaping plate of stewed chicken, saffron rice and fried plaintains with garlic. I was a bit obsessed (and had the resulting 15 lbs to show for it…), and would always order a morir soñando, an orange creamsicle-like drink, to go with my meal.

Morir soñando translates to “to die dreaming.” How romantic is that? That pretty much sums up the deliciousness of this drink – orange juice blended with evaporated milk, sugar and ice and sometimes vanilla and cinnamon. I was thinking about a dessert that captures these flavors best and decided on a semifreddo.

For those of you that don’t have an ice cream maker / attachment (or do but no desire to deal with it…), a semifreddo, Italian for “half cold”, is the perfect, delicate, frozen, ice cream-like treat and requires no extra equipment. The custard requires a bit of finesse, but once you’ve mastered it, it’s like riding a bike.

Here, I spike the custard with concentrated blood orange juice (you can use any orange you like) and cinnamon and then fold in a vanilla-bean whipped cream. A few hours in the freezer and you have an elegant dessert. It’s a great do-ahead item; I plan to freeze it in popsicle forms this summer to grab as a treat out of the freezer. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 12 servings (using a standard muffin tin)

10 small blood oranges or any orange you like, juiced (approximately 1 ½ cups of juice)

1 cinnamon stick

8 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

½ tsp orange zest

1 ¾ cup heavy cream, cold

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Procedure

In a small saucepan, bring orange juice with the cinnamon stick up to a simmer and let reduce 2/3rdsuntil you have about a ½ cup of concentrated juice. Set aside to cool.

Prepare an ice bath and set aside. Bring a saucepan with a few inches of water up to a simmer over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks, sugar, salt, zest and cooled, concentrated orange juice. Set bowl over the simmering saucepan of water to form a double boiler. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water but sits comfortably on top. Whisk continuously until the mixture becomes frothy, thick and creamy. This could take anywhere from 4 to 6 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should register 160 F, but you can also eyeball it and see that the mixture will more than double in size when it’s ready. Set bowl over ice bath to cool completely.

Using a stand or hand mixer, beat heavy cream with vanilla until the peaks are firm. Carefully, fold whipped cream into the cooled egg yolk custard. Incorporate completely but try not to deflate the mixture.

Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. Carefully, scoop semifreddo mixture into cupcake liners and level off the tops. Wrap tin in saran wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours. An alternative would be to freeze in ramekins in which you plan to serve the semifreddo.

Serve soon after removing from the freezer (because it begins to melt quickly) and garnish with a little cinnamon and orange supremes/pieces.

* Remember to refrigerate whipped cream if not using immediately. The custard must be completely cooled before folding in the cream.

Yuzu Kosho

I am on a citrus kick these days with it being in season. I talked a little bit about lovely Southeast Asian kaffir limes last week. This week it’s all about a Japanese citrus, yuzu. Yuzu is one of those crossover fruits that has popped up on menus and cocktail lists all over (the juice is such a great add to drinks…). It’s flavor is so distinctive – some notes of lime, grapefruit and mandarin, a Meyer lemon-like sweetness, acidity, and, at the same time, it has a signature, aromatic, floral muskiness that I personally find irresistible.

The rind of the yuzu is actually equally prized as the juice in Japanese cookery, and that brings me to this delicious condiment. Yuzu kosho is a coarse paste made from ground yuzu rind, chilies, and salt. It’s a specialty of a region in Southern Japan called Kyushu, and I’ve recently seen it pop up on non-Japanese restaurant menus around the city. It made me think a bit deeper about how to use this stuff in non-traditional ways.

There are two types: red and green. The red version is milder and sweeter, a combination of ripe yuzu and red chilies. The green version has more of a bite as it’s made from the unripe fruit and green chilies. Both are spicy, salty, sour and piquant. It’s the perfect ingredient for vinaigrette and sauces. It’s lovely in fish, chicken, and beef marinades – I like to add a sweet element like sugar or soy for the beef. Perfect for grilling. I also love that it gives such body to a brothy soup, and, lately, I’ve been dreaming about its kick in a creamy, sweet potato mash…

Kaffir Lime

A few weeks ago, I mentioned how taken aback I was to find kaffir limes while food shopping at a non-ethnic grocer. All citrus originated in South and Southeast Asia and was introduced to Europe during the Middle Ages. It’s interesting to think how some forms of it, like kaffir limes, are just getting recognized in the West. I asked a few friends who said they had no idea what a kaffir lime looked, tasted, smelled like, so I thought I would talk a little more about them.

Many know about kaffir lime leaves, which are used throughout Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, Malay, Indonesian and other Southeast Asian cooking. They are so unusual, with their double-leaf structure, and citrus aroma. But I think the limes themselves are equally interesting and get much less play because they aren’t as readily available or people just don’t know how to use them.

Kaffir limes are dwarf-like, a verdant green, with a rough, wrinkled, knobbly texture. Not so pretty. There isn’t a ton of flesh or juice to them really, and neither is really used in cooking. It’s their rind that is prized because it’s packed with aromatic oils. A little goes a long way.

The zest of kaffir lime is a key ingredient in many Southeast Asian curry pastes. I love using it because it’s slightly lemon-floral-grassy notes work well in place of regular lime zest, and it’s one of those sweet or savoury ingredients. It can elevate a fruit salad for breakfast to something spectacular, blended with fleur de sel (kaffir lime salt!) it’s a fantastic finish to a nicely seared piece of fish, and I don’t even want to get into the mojito possibilities…

Scallops with Thai Citrus Salad

It’s amazing the difference a year makes. I was actually in Thailand last winter and had the most beautiful pomelo salad, the inspiration for this recipe. A pomelo is a huge, grapefruit-like fruit that is found all over Southeast Asia. It’s sweet and lacks any of the bitterness typical of a grapefruit. Pomelos have a thick, spongy pith, and the fruit shreds into segments easily, which makes it perfect for a salad. When I got back, I had a hard time sourcing one, and then, lo and behold, a few weeks ago, I found them in Chelsea Market and on Fresh Direct! They are a beautiful fruit, so I’m so happy they are becoming more accessible.

When I was in Bangkok, I had the opportunity to spend the day at Face Bangkok, a cool, open-air restaurant compound with a swanky bar, a Thai restaurant, an Indian restaurant, and even a spa on site! The restaurant is part of a larger group that has branches in Jakarta, Beijing and Pudong, and is fantastic (if you happen to be visiting Bangkok) for a nice night out or drinks soaking up the chic scenery. I did a bit of intensive Thai cooking there, and this is my version of one dish that I learned.

This salad has a few different flavors and textures that I think work really well with a beautifully-caramelized, sweet scallop (as well as on its own!). If you can’t find a pomelo, delicious mandarins (satsumas are my fave) that are in season right now would work really well with all of the tangy and salty flavors. The peanuts and toasted coconut provide a great texture, a little umami from the fish sauce, sweetness and tartness from the tart lime juice – it’s light and refreshing and perfect to break up winter’s heavy dishes and take in some seasonal citrus. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a main course or 6 for a starter

Salad:

¾ cup dried, unsweetened coconut (chips or shredded)

¾ cup peanuts, toasted and crushed

3 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

½ shallot, finely minced

1 cup pomelo, segmented*

8-10 mint leaves, chiffonade

Citronette:

juice of 1 ½ limes

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsps sugar

pinch of cayenne

1 ½ tsps fish sauce

1 ½ tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Scallops:

3 tbsps olive oil

2 lbs jumbo sea scallops

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

Procedure

In a skillet over medium heat, add the dried coconut and toast until the color is deep and golden. This process happens fairly quickly, so keep your eye on it. Add to a bowl along with the crushed peanuts, scallions, shallot and pomelo (and any juice that resulted from segmenting the pomelo).

For the dressing, combine the lime juice, sugar, salt and cayenne and whisk to dissolve thoroughly. Add the fish sauce and then slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil whisking to combine. Toss salad with dressing, add mint, and season to taste.

For the scallops, you want to develop a nice deep color on them. Thoroughly dry the scallops before cooking and season generously with salt and pepper. If they are wet, they won’t caramelize and will sort of steam in the pan. Also, if you crowd the pan, they will also steam, so work in batches if necessary.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. When it’s just about to smoke, add the scallops, dragging a little so that the side gets coated in olive oil. Cook for about two minutes and add the butter. Let cook for another minute or so and then flip. They should have a nice brown crust on them. At this point, I turn the heat down just a tad. Let them cook on this side for another three minutes or so until they are cooked to your desired level. I like mine so that the middle third looks a bit translucent and the top and bottom thirds are opaque, but remember different-sized scallops will take differing cooking times. This is what I use to cook jumbo or U10-sized scallops.

Serve scallops hot with the cool salad spooned over top.

*The pomelo is a pretty unique fruit. To segment, I like to cut off as much of the rind and pith as possible. Then, I take out the larger, membrane-enclosed segments (much like a grapefruit or orange) and slip a pairing knife under the membrane. Once this is peeled away, the inner fruit shreds into little pieces. I like to do this over a bowl and catch all of the residual juice, which adds great flavor to the salad.

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White Sapote

Finger Limes and a Superstorm

Lemon-Orange Blossom “Pots de Crème”

Unique Citrus in NYC

Yuzu-Basil Rickey

“Morir Soñando” Semifreddo

Yuzu Kosho

Kaffir Lime

Scallops with Thai Citrus Salad