Hedonia

Chocolate mousse made with ... bean water?

Hey, did you know that the UN has designated 2016 the International Year of Pulses? Of course you didn't! Do you even know what pulses are? Bet not. I'm not talking the throbbing on your wrist, or the thing you do on the food processor to pulverize nuts. Pulses are dried members of the legume family that include beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas. This does not include fresh beans or peas, soybeans, or peanuts. Got it? Good. 

I had the privilege to be invited to the gorgeous Culinary Institute of America Greystone a few weeks back to learn more about pulses, and get inspired on how to use them. During this weekend intensive, we heard from experts on the virtues of pulses, and then went into the kitchens to work with instructors to get our pulses racing. 

Why pulses? Simple. Pulses are: 

• Renewable and sustainable. Pulses actually fix nitrogen in the soil, adding rather than depleting nutritional value like many other crops do. 
• Healthful. Pulses are high in protein and low in fat. Increasing pulse consumption has been demonstrated to aid in weight loss, even without making other dietary change. They are heart-healthy, and help regulate blood sugar. 
• Oh yeah, delicious. If you're not already in love with them, you haven't had them prepared right. And about that farty thing: Research has shown that once you integrate more pulses into your diet more regularly, that little problem tends to go away.

To get more people to enjoy pulses as part of their regular routine, they've launched the #PulsePledge, where you commit to eating at least one serving of pulses a week. In our household, that's a no-brainer. We eat beans on the reg, most especially the fabulous ones from Rancho Gordo. 

We were split up into two groups; each group would work first with either the pastry department or culinary arts, and then switch out the next day. On day one I got assigned to pastry, which struck dread in my heart. You know I'm a cursed baker, right? If you don't believe me, just look at what I did to this pound cake on that day. 

To be fair, the chef confirmed this was not my fault. It was a gluten-free pound cake, and the formula was not suited to the size of the pan. It over-rose, and broke tension, causing that nuclear crater effect. But still, this is not outside the realm of what I'm capable of under normal circumstances.

Yet I did have some successes, like this ham and cheese bread with chickpeas. YOU GUYS, I BAKED. 

And on the second day I made falafel, very good falafel, with some cracking baba ghanouj and hummus. 

Chocolate-covered strawberries

I'm going to break form here. Normally, in each post, I tell a little story, take you on a small journey or give you kernels of insight into our lives.

Not today, no. Today, it's all about eating with your eyes.

Because, really, what's there to say? What could I put in words that could trigger the salivary glands better than just looking at these ruby-red, perfectly dimpled berries coated in luxuriant chocolate ganache?

Thin mint julep

This beyond-awesome illustration courtesy of graphic designer and cocktail blogger Dr. Bamboo.

Do I really need to break down where the inspiration for this cocktail came from? Fine, okay, I was eating Thin Mint cookies while drinking bourbon. Oh, like you haven't.

Anyway, this is a drink recipe that practically writes itself. After all, if my cocktail math is right:

• Mint + bourbon = mint julep = yum
• Mint + chocolate = Thin Mint cookie = yum
• Chocolate + bourbon = just plain old yum

So, applying the law of conservation or whatever, that's, like, yum cubed. I may be wrong on that, since they didn't teach cocktail math in my high school, which is just one more reason why I don't need to relive those years. 

My first attempt at building this recipe involved making my own chocolate liqueur, made with a mint-infused simple syrup, and muddling mint leaves in the glass. The end result was fine, if rather ... subtle. But sometimes subtle is highly overrated. I mean, this is a cocktail modeled after a Girl Scout cookie, fercryinoutloud. Do you think they sell hundreds of thousands of boxes of cookies with subliminal advertising and gentle hints? No, they cast their doe eyes on you and beat you over the head with their cuteness. Subtle ain't exactly the name of the game.

I knew this much; I wanted the drink to have a rich chocolate base and a clean peppermint high note. Casting artisanal ingredients and techniques out the window, I went straight for the peppermint schnapps -- which our local booze store doesn't even stock, it's so lowbrow. I also invested in some crème de cacao, but opted for the good stuff since that's something that might actually have an application in a future drink. (For the record, as far as I can tell, there is no "good stuff" when it comes to peppermint hooch.) Et voilà -- one of America's favorite cookies in cocktail form. Bottoms up!

So promise me this: When this gets picked up and becomes the hottest girl drink of 2009 and is sold prefab in bottles and poured directly from spigots and is converted into one of those frozen slushie cocktails served from a churning machine, remember that you read it here first. Scout's honor? 

Eat me: Bourbon Balls

I've been pretty hard on Kentucky (and Kentucky's been pretty hard on me... ) but I want to be clear that there are many good things about the place. You just have to know what and where they are.

Case in point: Bourbon balls. Betcha didn't even know bourbon had balls, did you? Well, it does, and they are delicious.

There are two main producers of bourbon balls: Ruth Hunt and Rebecca Ruth. Each has its loyalists. Ruth Hunt, the Official Bourbon Balls of the Kentucky Derby (I am not making this up) uses Woodford Reserve from Labrot & Graham; the latter uses Evan Williams. Both are worthy, but I like Rebecca Ruth just a smidge better. Some of you may already know my propensity for bourbon and chocolate, so these are right up my alley.

Bourbon balls have a center of bourbon-infused butter cream, robed in dark chocolate and topped with a perfect pecan half. Different batches we've had over the years have varied in flavor from mellow vanilla-honey notes to white-hot booziness, depending on the freshness and, I guess, how sauced the confectioner was that day.

So what are you waiting for? Go order some! Heck, you can still get them for good old Dad.

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One year ago today ... I wrote a mash note to my wooden spatula. It's even more worn down now!

Perfect pairings: Bourbon and chocolate

Sometimes the combination of two discrete things is so perfect, so sublime, so harmonious, it's enough just to enjoy the synergy of flavors at play. I had cause to reflect on this whilst enjoying one of my favorite pairings, bourbon and chocolate. If you've got whiskey lovers in your social circle, this would suffice as a dessert and requires exactly zero cooking on your part. In our case, last night we enjoyed Elmer T Lee Single Barrel (90 proof) with Scharffen Berger 62% semisweet chocolate. The semisweet had the right balance of richness and bitterness to call out the honey-vanilla flavors in the bourbon, which in turn had enough burn to accent the underlying sweetness and cut through the cocoa butter of the chocolate. I took miniscule nibbles and infinitesimal sips to extend the pleasure of the experience as long as possible.

I first acquired the taste for whiskey some 16 years ago, working at the Santa Fe Opera and living with a Texan named Jim. The choices there were Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey, the latter being actual bourbon as opposed to just whiskey. But it wasn't until I became involved with DPaul, who is Kentuckian, that I began to explore the diversity of real bourbons out there. Together we've toured the distilleries for Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark and Labrot & Graham (maker of Woodford's Reserve). Touring the distilleries is worthwhile, though there are no tastings involved -- almost all are in dry counties. They do, however, often give you bourbon candies at the end, the best of the bunch being Ruth Hunt's bourbon balls, which use Woodford's Reserve. Most of these distilleries are in stunningly beautiful settings, set amongst the "hollars", rolling green hills with babbling brooks meandering through the valleys. Both Labrot & Graham and Maker's Mark's grounds are positively idyllic. At the latter, you can dunk your own bottle in red wax for a fun souvenir. These days, new distilleries have cropped up all throughout bluegrass country, and boutique labels have emerged, raising the profile of what was once fairly lowbrow brew.

About a week after we visited Wild Turkey, some four or five years ago, one of their barrel houses had a fire. It's amazing this doesn't happen more often -- the air within the barrel houses is vaporous with alcohol fumes escaping from the barrels. The "angel's share" they call the attrition of bourbon due to evaporation. Wild Turkey's fire sent flaming barrels of bourbon rolling into the river below, contaminating the local water supply. Wish I had been there to see that!

Our favorites are Woodford's Reserve or Knob Creek when drinking bourbon on its own (or with chocolate!). For Manhattans, though, I like Maker's Mark, as it has a natural cherry flavor that complements the maraschino and bitters nicely. When making juleps, I'm less picky -- the sweetness and mint overpower any subtlety the bourbon brings to the party. Derby Day is just two weeks out, though, so it is in fact julep season. Stay tuned, and I may just post a recipe.

Perfect pots de crème

Our friend Hugh fed us last night, a feast for kings: Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus; roast guinea hen with rutabaga, parsnip and parsley root; delicious couscous with Egyptian dukkah, all crunchy and spicy. Everything was truly to die for. But the crowning glory was the adorable little pots de crème from Miette in the Ferry Building. (Sorry, no picture!) They packed a surprisingly rich chocolatey flavor despite their relatively light color, and they were the perfect consistency. Best of all, they come in quaint little bell-shaped jars that you can reuse for pots de crème of your own, or forcing bulbs.

Miette
One Ferry Building, shop 10