Day Two of Thing a Day was a total fail! However, I still tried to make something, and I am also going to make some granola tonight, so I think it still counts as a creative day.
Because my recipe wasn't successful, I will just give you a quick rundown of what I tried to do.
Step 1: Make custard
Buy a box of Jello custard mix, add one and a half cups milk, half a cup of cream, one beaten egg yolk, cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then let cool in the fridge for at least an hour.
Mistake #1: I think I should have used some sort of liquid custard from the looks of the recipe (no idea where to get a liquid custard? Maybe the custard mixture without letting it set?). My custard was too chunky.
However, the custard was absolutely delicious, so even though the raviolis were a disaster, I am still very much enjoying the custard.
Step 2: Make the alginate bath.
Add one packet sodium alginate to two cups of water. Mix with an immersion blender, then put in the fridge for 15 minutes.
This is pretty hard to mess up.
Step 3: Prepare the custard.
Pour 1/4 cup of milk into a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon calcium lactate and stir well. Add 2/3 cup of custard.
Mistake #2: My custard looked too think, so I added a few more splashes of milk. Maybe a little more than a few...apparently proportions matter.
Step 4: Make pearls.
Using a teaspoon, dollop the custard mixture into the alginate bath. Let pearls sit for three minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and rinse in a rinsing bath (water).
Mistake #3: Do not overload the alginate bath. Pearls will stick together and as you try to separate them, they will break. Then, you will have a gellish/hellish mess of custard that is impossible to separate from the alginate solution, forcing you to either discard your entire alginate bath or attempt to fish out the custard strands (the latter method I have deemed impossible and the former is a waste of additives).
Step 5: Say screw it and drink your custard out of the bowl. Tomorrow, attempt yogurt pearls instead - yogurt starts out a little thinner. It has got to work!
So basically, the custard pearls acted like vampires that can't see the light, except they were pearls that couldn't emerge from the water. Each time, I thought I had it figured out and as soon as the pearls came above the waterline, I could see a hole that suddenly appeared in the "shell" and the custard would ooze everywhere.
Here are some things I tried that didn't fix it:
1) Do only a few pearls at a time to make sure they don't stick together and then break because they had to be separated
2) Do smaller pearls to make them easier to grab out of the water - I tried both a half teaspoon and a dropper size. Negative results for both. Also of note was the smaller the pearls were, the worse they tasted because they were covered in a noticeable alginate slime.
3) Let pearls sit in water for twice as long - 6 minutes instead of 3 minutes. This made no apparent difference.
I have no idea what went wrong, but that is part of the fun of it. To be honest, I didn't think yesterday's recipe would go well at all and I was shocked at how easy it was.
Now that I know it doesn't always work, it will be more interesting when I try to make it work with yogurt tomorrow. I wonder if there will be any other tweaks to make it successful. Tim Gunn will be standing over my shoulder - "Make It Work."
On a similiar note, I think week one is going to be all spherification recipes. Just so we are all on the same page, spherification is "the process of shaping liquid into spheres which visually and texturally resemble caviar." The technique dates back to the 1950's, so it isn't anything too futuristic.
Wish me better luck tomorrow!
For my first attempt at molecular gastronomy, I wanted to try out a variety of my additives, so I decided to make Coconut Almond Squares which use three different additives.
Grocery store ingredients:
- Coconut Milk - you can find this in the Asian section of your grocery store, in a can. I recommend avoiding the light kind. I used the light kind and it could have used more richness.
- Amaretto - this is a liquer from the alcohol store, near the Schnapps
- Vanilla extract, to taste
- Optional:
Additives:
*Note I got all my additives from a Molecule-R kit, which I highly recommend if you are just starting out. The recipe calls for packets, so I converted the packet weights into grams. I have done some googling and while I haven't had to purchase any additional additives yet, Amazon seems to be a good source for addictives.
- Agar Agar (20g/1packet)
- Sodium Alginate (40g/2 packets)
- Calcium Lactate (50g/1 packet)
Special utensils:
- Slotted spoon
- Silicone baking tray with boxes (or whatever shape you want) - I used a brownie bites tray from Fred Meyer
- Immersion blender
- Normal blender
- You can probably get away with one or the other, if you do not have both a normal and immersion blender
Step 1: Make the Coconut Squares
First, mix together 1 cup of coconut milk, 20g/1 packet of Agar-Agar, and vanilla to taste - I added a teaspoon or two. Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.
Bring ingredients to a boil and stir for a minute or so.
Let cool for a few minutes, then place mixture in a blender and blend until throughly mixed. I used a Magic Bullet for this. Pour mixture into silicone baking tray. My mixture made 11 squares. Then, set tray in refrigerator for thirty minutes - the coconut squares are finished.
Step 2: Alginate Syrup
Fill a bowl with 1 and 1/4 cups of water.
Add two packets of Sodium Alginate. Use your immersion blender to mix thoroughly.
This mixture turns into the texture of hair gel. VERY thick and very hard to wash off, so be careful you don't spill everywhere like I did. It is a PAIN to clean up.
Once mixed, bring the alginate syrup to a boil and stir for about one minute. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
Step 3: Amaretto + Alginate Syrup
Measure out 1/4 cup of your Alginate Syrup. The rest is leftover, which I stored in a tupperware container.
Add 1/4 cup Amaretto to the 1/4 cup of Alginate Syrup, and stir to mix.
Step Four: Calcium Lactate Bath and Rinsing Bath
Prepare two bowls. In one, mix together four cups of water and one packet of Calcium Lactate. In the other, fill with lukewarm water - this is your rinsing bath.
Step Five: Amaretto Pearls
Using a teaspoon, scoop out a teaspoon of the Amaretto mixture. Lower the teaspoon to the Calcium Lactate bath, dunk under, and turn the teaspoon over to release the mixture into the Calcium Lactate. I found this worked best when I dumped the Amaretto swiftly, rather than taking too much time (if you take too long to pour it out, it turns into a strand). You will get the hang of this - you do not have to be as gentle as you would imagine.
Pour all the your mixture into the Calcium Lactate bath, one teaspoon at a time.
When done, use a slotted spoon to transfer your pearls from the Calcium Lactate bath into the rinsing bath. Stir to rinse well.
Then, remove the pearls from the water bath. Again, you do not have to be as gentle as you would think. I popped a couple, but I was being pretty careless.
Also note I put my pearls together on a plate, and this was actually the hardest part - it was difficult to separate and get them off the plate. You might want to think of a better storage method, but I don't have one yet.
Look how awesome they look! They feel like the texture of a fish oil pill. The first one is an example of what happens if you take to long to pour out the teaspoon into the Calcium Lactate bath.
I made about 20 pearls.
Step Six: Assemble and Eat
When ready to eat, carefully pop out your Coconut Squares - this is when you will be thankful you used a silicone baking tray. If you aren't careful, they can break, but you don't have to be too gentle. The Coconut Squares have the texture of a firm tofu or an airy flan.
Then, place your pearls on top of the Coconut Squares, sprinkle cinnamon and/or sugar over the top, and Voila! Impress all your friends! Or just impress your self...either way, it is still pretty awesome. I can't believe it actually worked. The pearls look like little eggs yolks.
Note that when pierced with a fork (with a bit of pressure) the pearls pop and liquid spills out. Also, don't be nervous. I was using really vague instructions and it still turned out just fine. These are surprisingly easy.
THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR THE AMAZING PRESENT!
