Laurel – Cookbook Giveaway
January 9, 2020 by JennyEnter our giveaway open to US members for Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia by Nicholas Elmi and Adam Erace. This book made my best books of 2019 list.
Running Press has published some amazing cookbooks this year (See the bottom of this post for links to other reviews and giveaways) and Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia is no exception.
Top Chef winner Nicholas Elmi’s debut cookbook is a delightful compilation of recipes from his highly praised South Philly restaurant. While the book is definitely a Top Chef’s work, it is motivating for the home chef who wishes to stretch their culinary muscles. There are recipes that most cooks can conquer (and plenty of recipes that can be tackled without some of the more elaborate components). For instance, the Fresh ricotta gnocchi is certainly doable as well as many others while saving the more time-consuming elements for a weekend.
The book is seasonally organized with well-crafted menu selections that include instructions for plating to the perfect cocktail to complement the meal. The publisher graciously provided a lovely dessert dish for our members to try now.
White chocolate pudding, cocoa crumble, strawberries
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I’m not a fan of white chocolate. But I love caramelized white chocolate, which has a whole other flavor profile. It’s been following me around since 2012. At Rittenhouse Tavern, it came in the form of a frozen caramelized white chocolate panna cotta. On the finale of my season of Top Chef, in Hawaii, it evolved into a pudding set with agar and jeweled with tropical fruits. When we opened Laurel, it was one of the first desserts to go on the menu (back when we had an à la carte menu), not just because it’s delicious but because of our kitchen constraints. We don’t have the space to pre-plate thirty desserts, chill them in the fridge, and garnish them à la minute. (We don’t have the space to do that for even ten desserts.) So we calibrated the balance of custard to chocolate to create a pudding that will hold its texture in a pastry bag, one that we constantly pull in and out of the fridge to pipe out desserts to order.
The order of this recipe is important. Sometimes strawberry season here is as short as two weeks, so we make as many different strawberry things for as long as we can. The various strawberry garnishes can be prepped in advance, as can the super easy chocolate crumble you will want to put over everything from now on. But when you’re ready for the pudding, dial up your concentration and get all the ingredients mise-d out before you start. The process goes fast, and you have to monitor the temperatures of the chocolate and the custard. If the former gets too cool, it will seize up. If the latter gets too hot, the sugar will turn it into a brick. You should be caramelizing the chocolate while the custard is coming up to temperature, or enlist a partner to make one component while you make the other. They won’t regret it when it’s time to taste the finished product.
Pickled green strawberries
- 1 cup/250 g Champagne vinegar
- ⅔ cup/118 g granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups/343 g water
- 1 pound/454 g large green strawberries, stemmed
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and water in a saucepot, and warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is melted. Cool completely. Cover the strawberries with the liquid in a nonreactive airtight container. Fit with a tight lid, and leave in a cool, dry spot for at least 2 weeks.
Fermented green strawberries
- 1 pound/454 g green strawberries
- 1 tablespoon/13.5 g Kosher salt
Wash the berries well in cold water, and pat dry. Purée the berries in a blender with the salt, and transfer to a medium vacuum bag. Seal on high. Leave at room temperature for 3 days or until the bag puffs. Keep the purée in the bag and reserve cold.
Dehydrated strawberries
- 20 strawberries, stemmed
Slice the strawberries 1 ⁄4 inch/6 mm thick, and arrange them on a dehydrating tray that’s been misted with nonstick spray. Dehydrate for 12 hours at 125°F or until crisp. Reserve at room temperature.
White chocolate pudding
- 7 sheets silver gelatin
- 10 ounces/300 g egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon/8 g Kosher salt
- 10 ounces/300 g granulated sugar
- 2 pounds/1,000 g white chocolate
- 24 ounces/720 g heavy whipping cream
- 36 ounces/1,080 g whole milk
Soak the gelatin in cold water until soft. Whip the yolks, salt, and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes or until the eggs are pale and fall off the whisk in ribbons.
Cook the white chocolate in a large pot over medium heat, stirring, until it turns a deep caramel color, about 10 minutes.
While the chocolate is caramelizing, bring the cream and milk to a simmer in a medium pot. Slowly temper some of the warm dairy into the eggs on low speed, then pour the egg mixture into the pot. Heat the mixture to 186°F while continuously whisking to make a custard.
Transfer the caramelized white chocolate to a medium bowl. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin, and add the gelatin to the chocolate. Slowly add the hot custard. Gently stir the ingredients together with a rubber or silicone spatula, then purée with an immersion blender. Pass the pudding through a chinois into a medium bowl. Set the bowl over a large bowl of ice to chill the pudding. When chilled, transfer to a nonreactive airtight container, and refrigerate until fully set, about 6 hours.
Strawberry purée
- 2 cups/450 g strawberries, stemmed
- 3 ounces/85 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon/3 g malic acid
- 2 teaspoons/5.5 g agar-agar
Season the berries in a bowl with the sugar and malic acid, cover, and rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Purée the strawberries and their liquid with the agar in a blender. Transfer the purée to a medium pot, and bring to a simmer while continually whisking. Cool completely, and allow to set in the fridge. Purée and reserve in a plastic squeeze bottle at room temperature.
Chocolate crumble
- 7 ounces/200 g cocoa powder
- 7 ounces/200 g granulated sugar
- 3.5 ounces/100 g Gluten-Free Flour (see recipe at bottom) or all-purpose flour
- 5 ounces/150 g melted unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 325oF. Whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, and flour, and sift. Slowly add the butter until the mixture clumps when squeezed together but still falls apart. Spread the mixture over a sheet tray lined with a silicone baking mat, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until dry and firm. Remove the crumble from the oven, allow to cool, and break apart into fine crumbs. Reserve in a cool, dry place.
To plate
- 2 large strawberries
- 60 violas
Slice the fresh strawberries and 2 pickled green strawberries into thin rounds, and then cut those rounds into quarters. Spoon 4 ounces/113 g of the pudding into the bottom of a tall bowl (for a playful touch, use a bowl that looks like a flower pot), and generously cover the pudding with the crumble. Add 15 dots of strawberry purée and 7 dots of fermented green strawberry mash. Garnish with 6 pieces each of fresh and pickled green strawberries, 6 pieces of dehydrated strawberry, and 6 violas. Repeat for remaining portions.
Gluten-free flour – Makes 4 1/2 pounds/2 kg
- 2.2 pounds/1,000 g brown rice flour
- 1.8 pounds/800 g white rice flour
- 7 ounces/200 g tapioca flour
- 1 ounce/26 g xanthan gum
Whisk all the ingredients together. Transfer to a nonreactive container, and store in a cool, dry place.
Reprinted with permission from LAUREL © 2019 by Nicholas Elmi and Adam Erace, Running Press Photo credit: Neal Santos
Special thanks to Running Press for offering three copies of this fantastic book in our giveaway below.
Thanks to the publisher for providing three copies of the above-referenced title in our giveaway open to EYB Members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.
Which recipe in the index would you try first?
Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post and this forum post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option – the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on July 5th, 2020.
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