Playing With My Food ~
A journal about food, thought, travel, and life; by Chef & Raconteur Chaz French.

Things I’m working on…

So a week ago I decided to make a chocolate sorbet from my Ultimate Ice Cream cookbook, while it was being made I decide to add a significant amount of heavy cream, and the result was what I can only call “Chocolate Perfection” I need to make it again to write everything down so I can post it. Same with what happened last night…

I wanted dessert, and I didn’t really have anything ready to eat, so I figured I’d do something with puff pastry, and remembered I had passion fruit pulp in the freezer… I figured I’d make a jam to go with the pastry and some whipped cream I’d made the day before… Well as I was cooking the pulp, I realized I needed to add some sugar to thicken it into a jam, then as it was reducing I decided to add pinches of salt, cardamom, and ginger. Things were coming along nicely, but it was clear that without pectin this wouldn’t be a jam, so my brain firing at high speed decided “Grab some heavy cream.” I added a few ounces of cream to the mix and continued to cook it down, and I ended up with the most amazing Passion Fruit Caramel. I cooked it beyond the ‘caramel sauce’ point and went to the soft candy stage. It was so fucking amazing that it blew my socks off, and that takes a lot.

So Tomorrow’s plan is to remake the caramel, and find a store that sells Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder so I can redo the ice cream.

In the non-dessert arena, I made an amazing quick summer tomato ‘sauce’ with heirloom cherry tomatoes, lightly sauteed with in olive oil with garlic and shallots. It was heavenly over fresh beet fettuccine, I’m making that again for dinner, and will post pics along with instructions.

I fucking love summer’s bounty!

Chaz

Stay tuned