Waste-Free Citrus Fruit

               Sumo Mandarins from California are in season Feb through May, so it’s a great time to look for them at your local Farmers Market. Originally from Asia, but now grown in California, the Sumo’s distinguishable shape, thin and delicate rind, and natural lack of seeds make it perfect for my end goal: Waste-free Citrus Sorbet.

In the world of restaurants, everything matters, down to the lowly, discarded onion peel; this is essentially money, already spent, that you are throwing away. Here is where the PacoJet comes in to save the day. Because the blade of the Pacojet spins at 2000rpm, you can pacotize edible rinds, peels, skins, and seeds until they are completely undetectable. For fruit sorbet production this is key, because the untapped flavor, vitamins, minerals, fibers, and essential oils in most edible fruit skins go largely overlooked.

Basic ingredients: Sumo Mandarins, Granulated Sugar, and Water. So the recipe here is very simple and includes no specified amounts (stay with me Pastry Chefs; all will make sense). The recipe and method is as follows:

Waste-free Citrus Sorbet (Yield: 1 Pacojet beaker: roughly 2 liters of sorbet)

• Sumo Mandarins – 1 ¾ each (peel included)
• 50/50 Simple Syrup- as needed

Method:

1. 1.Cut the Sumos into small dice place inside the beaker.
2. 2.Cover with simple syrup until you see the first piece of mandarin float to the top and STOP. (Press any floaters back down into submission) Freeze the beaker for 1-2 hours if using a standard freezer. For those lucky enough to have a blast freezer at your disposal, blast freeze for about 30-45 minutes until the beaker is firm enough to resist pressure without buckling.
3. 3.Once your beaker has been partially frozen and your Sumo pieces are secure, top off the beaker with simple syrup until just below the fill line and continue freezing over night or until -4 F.
4. 4.Pacotize and Enjoy the “fruits of your labor”!

The result was transformative. Bright, fresh citrus flavor (a product of the inclusion of the rinds) matched with a smooth and creamy consistency, sans cream! Another great variation on this recipe (for those chefs always looking for ways to improve their vegan and vegetarian customer relations) would be to skip the simple syrup altogether. Instead, go for an organic, no-sugar added, orange juice or simply water. Using water will affect the “creaminess” of your product, but in the end this is a water-based, dairy free sorbet. So I encourage you, love your peels! Treat them with care, and allow them the same thought and attention you do with the actual flesh. Let your peels and your Pacojet work for you, giving you more flavorful, nutrient-rich, and cost-saving results!

Christopher Bleidorn attended Johnson and Wales in Providence while working concurrently at Tosca in his hometown of Boston. Upon graduation, he moved to the west coast and spent 5 years as Jason Knibb's sous chef at Nine-Ten restaurant in San Diego. Just before joining the team at Benu, Christopher worked under Grant Achatz at Alinea in Chicago.

Tart Shell
340g butter
185g powdered sugar
3 eggs
200g ap flour
322g cake flour
2g xanthan gum
1g salt
56g cocoa powder 

Using a stand mixer with a paddle combine butter and powdered sugar. Next incorporate the eggs. Continue Adding all dry ingredients and work into a dough. Let dough rest for one hour.

Portion dough into 400g sections. Roll out dough into 3 quarter sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Coconut Block
900g coconut milk
50g glucose
6g simplese
7.2g low acyl gellan
4.5g iota carrageenan
1.8g xanthan gum
275g sugar
4g salt
100g coconut powder
100g mycryon
22g gelatin 

Using a Thermomix, combine the coconut milk and glucose. In a bowl combine the simplesse, low acid gellan, iota carrageenan, and xanthan gum. Transfer dry ingredients to the thrmomix and bring to a boil. Next add sugar, salt, coconut powder, and miycryo, mix and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from thermomix and place in container to set. Once set puree till smooth.

 Combine a small amount of coconut puree and gelatin, warm to incorporate. Combine with remaining coconut puree. Set in a acetate lined quarter sheet pan.

To assemble the tart, cut both the custard and the shell into quarters. Melt the bottom side of each custard piece with a blow torch and layer on tart shell. Place in refrigerator for one hour. Then portion into triangle slices.

 Lime chips
200g sugar
40g egg whites
2.5g salt
2g ascorbic acid
15g lime juice 

In a bowl, whisk togetherthe sugar, egg whites, salt, ascorbic acid, and lime juice until it becomes a pal white color. Spread the mixture on sprayed acetate and dehydrate at 150F for 2 hours.

Lime Puree
120g lime juice
150g water
60g sugar
27g ultra tex 

In a bowl, combine lime juice, water, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Next, whisk in ultra tex until completely incorporated and mixture is thick. Pass through tami to remove clumps.

 Lime Cloud
130g lime juice
150g water
120g sugar
3g ascorbic acid
2g simplesse
16g gelatin 

In a blender, mix the lime juice, water, sugar, ascorbic acid, and simplesse until sugar is dissolved. Transfer 100g of the liquid to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, then add the gelatin. After the gelatin is incorporated combine with remainder lime mixture. Place the mixture in a stand mixer and whip with whip attachment to medium peakes set in refrigerator for one hour.

 Lime zest
3 limes 

Micro plane the zest of limes and store in refrigerator.

 Cocoa Paper
300g water
175g sugar
50g liquid glucose
100g cocoa powcer
18g purecote 

Mix together the water, sugar, liquid glucose, cocoa powder, and purecote in a saucepan, then bring to a boil and chill. Pour the chilled mixture on a sprayed acetate sheet and dehydrate until crisp.

Cocoa Nougatine
30g butter
250g sugar
100g water
2g salt
80g glucose
150g cocoa nibs
20g cocoa powder 

In a saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, salt, and glucose and heat to 316F. Stir in cocoa nibs and cocoa powder. Next pour the mixture onto a silpat and chill. Break into pieces and process in robot coupe then shift through a tami. Store in air tight container.

 Cocoa Rock
50g cocoa powder
200g cocoa nougatine
5g lime zest
20g tapioca maltodextrin
20g canola oil
5g lime oil 

In a robot coupe, combine cocoa powder, cocoa nougatine, lime zest, and tapioca maltidextrin. Mix in canola oil and lime oil until incorporated and set aside 200g of the mixture. Place rest in bags of 300g and roll into logs and vacuum at 99%. Freeze and break into rocks.

 Menthol Solution
250g water
0.5g menthol crystals
0.5g xanthan gum 

In a saucepan combine water and menthol crystals until dissolved. In a blender add menthol mixture and xanthan gum and blend.

Menthol Ice Cream
900g neutral ice cream base
30g menthol solution 

Combine and mix together. Place mixture into Pacojet beaker and freeze 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

Scott Craig is the Executive Chef at Myers Park Country Club, a Platinum-ranked private property located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Scott is originally from Virginia and attended Virginia Tech as well as the Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. Scott went on to hone his craft at two of the top ten ranked private clubs in the nation, Baltimore Country Club and the Chevy Chase Club. He also staged annually for three years at the Master Chefs Dinner at Rudy's 2900 in Maryland and continued his education at the Culinary Institute of America. Scott's first post as Executive Chef was at River Hills Country Club in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. Currently, when Scott is not behind the range at Myers Park Country Club he competes nationally and is readying for the 2012 International Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany. Scott also maintains a fine dining blog at http://www.ifyoucanstandtheheat.comBacon Broth and Pacotized

 Foie Gras Dumpling

Jellied Bacon Broth Filling:

-2 cups bacon stock
-2 cups chicken stock
-1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
-1 slice of fresh ginger
-1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1 piece of star anise
-1/4 cup of gelatin

 Pacotized Foie Gras Mousse:
-1 lobe of grade B foie gras, cleaned and deveined
-Kosher salt, as needed
-Freshly toasted and ground white pepper, as needed 

Vinegar Reduction:
-1 cup balsamic vinegar
-1 cup Bansankan eel coating sauce

 Dumplings:
-36 wonton skins
-2 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon of cornstarch
-1 teaspoon of water
-12 ounces of grade A foie gras, sliced into 12 portions
-1 tablespoon of unsalted butter 

For Garnish:
-1 ounce of fresh, thinly sliced scallions

 Preparation:

Combine all ingredients for the Bacon Broth Filling, minus the gelatin, in a small sauce pan and simmer on low heat for twenty minutes.  Strain the broth through a chinois, then add the gelatin to the warm broth and stir lightly until the gelatin is fully incorporated.  Let the broth sit, covered, for thirty minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom.  Reheat the broth over a double boiler to melt the gelatin, then strain into a shallow ½ hotel pan and place in the refrigerator.  The broth should chill and harden within an hour, and can be sliced into ½ inch cubes.

For the foie gras mousse, season the grade B foie gras liberally with salt and pepper and allow to sit in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day, cryovac the foie gras and cook in an immersion circulator at 250 degrees Fahrenheit until the foie gras begins to melt and is warm through the center.  Place the foie gras, still packaged, into an ice bath until it has chilled fully.  Pacotize  the foie gras twice to create the a mousse, then cryovac again to remove any air.  Refrigerate the packaged mousse for several hours until solid, then dice into ½ inch cubes.

To prepare the dumplings an egg wash will be needed.  Combine the egg yolk, water and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.  To assemble the dumplings, brush the wonton skins with eggwash then place a cube of foie gras mousse and a cube of jellied soup in the center of each wonton.  Fold the wrapper over and carefully press out any air surrounding the filling.  The wontons can be sealed either with the back of a fork or by crimping the edges.  At this point the dumplings can be frozen for further use if desired, there is no need to thaw before boiling.

To prepare the sauce, combine the eel sauce and balsamic vinegar and reduce by one third.  The sauce should just reach nappe.

For service:

Drop the dumplings into simmering water for about two minutes; the wonton skins will change from white to opaque and you will be able to see the filling become liquid.  Toss the dumplings with whole butter and season as needed with salt and pepper.  Season the portioned grade A foie gras with salt and pepper and sear very briefly on high heat without any fat added to the pan.  The slices of foie gras can then be cut into thirds.  Drizzle the plate with the reduction, place the dumplings on the reduction, top with the sliced foie gras and garnish with the scallion after refreshing it quickly in ice water.

Peach Frozen Custard
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
12 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 cup diced peaches 

Fill Pacojet beaker with peaches. Whisk sugar and yolks till smooth. Heat cream, milk, and vanilla to a simmer. Temper in yolks. Cook mixture to 180F. Pour mixture over peaches to indentation line. Freeze beaker for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

 Brown Sugar, Brown Butter Peach Ice Cream
1 cups cream
1 ½ cups milk
8 yolks
¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup diced peaches
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste 

In a sauté pan over low heat melt butter. Continue to cook stirring till butter is browned.  Fill Pacojet beaker with peaches. Whisk sugar and yolks till smooth. Heat cream, milk, and vanilla to a simmer. Temper in yolks. Cook mixture to 180F. Whisk in butter. Pour mixture over peaches to indentation line. Freeze beaker for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

 Honey Peach Cream Cheese Gelato
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
16 grams cornstarch
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup diced peaches
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste 

Fill Pacojet beaker with peaches. Heat cream, milk, sugar, honey, cream cheese, cornstarch and vanilla to a simmer. Cook till mixture comes to a boil. Pour mixture over peaches to indentation line. Freeze beaker for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

 Peach Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
4 ounces blueberries
4 ounces peaches, deseeded and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ounces sugar
8 fl oz yogurt
8 fl oz milk 

Combine sugar and milk in a pot and bring to a simmer. Place berries, peaches, lemon juice, and yogurt in a Pacojet beaker and mix. Pour milk mixture overtop. Freeze for 24 hour to -4F. Pacotize.

Peach Sour Cream Sherbet
1  cup water
3/4  cup sugar
1/2  cup sour cream
2 cup diced peaches 

Fill Pacojet beaker with peaches. Heat water and sugar till sugar dissolves. Whisk in sour cream. Pour mixture over peaches to indentation line. Freeze beaker for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

Peach Ginger Sorbet
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups diced peaches 

Fill Pacojet beaker with peaches. Heat water and sugar till sugar dissolves. Pour mixture over peaches to indentation line. Freeze beaker for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

Peaches, bourbon, and molasses just scream August. This dessert is a great use of fresh peaches.

 Bourbon Roasted Peach Gelato
2 cups milk
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup diced peaches
1 cup bourbon
1-tablespoon vanilla bean paste 

Heat sugar, milk, cream, honey, cream cheese, and vanilla till sugar dissolve and cream cheese melted. Reduce bourbon to ¼ cup and add to gelato base. Place peached in a Pacojet beaker and cover with base. Freeze for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize.

Cherry Sorbet
5 cups Cherry juice
1 cup sugar 

Reduce cherry juice to 3 cups. Add sugar and dissolve. Pour into Pacojet beaker. Freeze for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize. 

Molasses Blini
8 ounces Flour
1 ounce Sugar
6 fl ounces Milk
4 Eggs
2 tablespoons molasses 

Place all ingredients in beaker and using whipping disk pacotize once. Saute  2 tablespoon scoops in skillet.

Peach Puree
3 cups peaches
¼ cup molasses
½ cup honey 

Place all ingredients in a Pacojet beaker and using 4 cutter blade pacotize twice.

Cherry Glaze
4 cups cherry juice
1 cup sugar 

Reduce juice to 1 cup. Add sugar and cook to 245F.

 Caraway Meringue
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons caraway 

Place egg whites and sugar in a pacojet beaker. Using whipping disk pacotize 4 times with out releasing pressure.  Spread on sheet pan and sprinkle with caraway. Bake at 250F for 1 hour.

Bourbon Molasses Fluff
6 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup bourban
¾ cup molasses 

Place all ingredients into a Pacojet beaker. Using the whipping disk pacotize five times releasing air after each cycle.

Huckleberry Fennel Dessert

This is a great light dessert with hints of savory intertwined with sweet and sour. The sorbet would also make a great intermezzo.

 Fennel Huckleberry Sorbet
1 fennel, large dice
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup huckleberries 

Bring sugar and water to a boil and dissolve sugar. Place fennel in a Pacojet beaker and cover with sugar water. Freeze for 24 hours to -4F. Pacotize the sorbet then fold in huckleberries. Return to freezer and freeze for half hour before serving.

 Huckleberry Gelee
4 cups huckleberry juice
1 cup sugar
10 teaspoons powdered gelatin 

Place gelatin in a small bowl and mix with 1 cup juice. Bring remaining 3 cups of juice and sugar to a boil. Add gelatin to boiling juice and dissolve. Pour onto a half sheet pan and chill. When gelatin is set cut into rectangles and reserve for plating.

Whipped Pastry Cream
2 cups heavy cream
4 ounces sugar
1.5 ounces cornstarch
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 

Bring cream and vanilla to a simmer. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and egg. Temper cream into egg mixture and return to stove. Stirring continually bring mixture to a simmer and remove from heat. Chill pastry cream. Place cream into a Pacojet beaker. Using the whipping disk pacotize beaker to airate.

Pinenut Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
Dash of salt
12 tbs or 1 ½ sticks chilled butter
2 eggs
3-4 tbs cold water
½ cup chopped pinenuts

Mix the flour, pinenuts and salt in a food processor. Add the butter in pieces and pulse until the flour begins to thicken. Add eggs and the water, pulse until small clumps of dough begin to form.

Form two balls with the dough, flatten into disks. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a thin sheet and cover the sheet pan with dough.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F, line the shell with foil and fill with beans or baking beads for about 20 minutes, just until the edges begin to get some color.

Pinenut Butter
2 cups pinenuts
¼ cup olive oil 

Place ingredients in a Pacojet beaker. Pacotize using the four blade cutter. Remove beaker and scrape down contents, pacotize once more.

Huckleberry Fennel Compote
2 cups huncleberry
½ cup minced fennel
½ teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon grated ginger
½ cup honey 

Mix all ingredients.

A perfect light end to a meal. This is just the right amout of sweetnes to the end of a meal. Jordan Kahn served this last time I was at Red Medicine and I was blown away by all the flavors.

Frozen raw cream infused with sweet clover / pear sorbet / black malt / birch water / shaved raw chestnut

 500g  raw cream
80g  condensed milk
30g  glucose syrup
1/8 tsp salt
100g egg whites
30g greek yogurt
10g wild white clover leaves and flowers
500g pears, peeled and juiced in a juice extractor
reserved pear skins
100g water
50g mead
100g sugar
35g glucose powder
salt
malic acid
2 each large chestnuts, shelled, peeled, and thinly sliced
100g birch water
50g black malt
100g grapeseed oil
white clover leaves and flowers

 clover cream
Vacuum seal raw cream, condensed milk, glucose syrup, salt, egg whites, grek yogurt and clover leaves together in a bag and refrigerate for 24 hours, agitating the bag every few hours.  Open the nag and strain the contents.  Transfer the mixture to a pacojet beaker fitted with the whipping attachment blade.  Pacotize twice, then transfer the beaker to the freezer. 

pear sorbet
Vacuum seal the pear skins, water, mead, sugar, and glucose in a heat-proof bag.  Place the bag in a 165 degree water bath for 2 hours.  Open the bag and strain the contents.  Mix together the pear skin syrup, pear juice, acid, and salt.  Place in a pacojet beaker and freeze to -8 degrees farenheit.  Pacotize using standard blade, then store in the freezer until ready to use. 

black malt
Bend the oil and black malt together in a high speed blender for 2 minutes.  Strain through a chinois.

 Presentation
Place a spoonful of sorbet in the center of a bowl.  Top with a large piece of clover cream to cover.  Lay slices of chestnut over the frozen cream.  Spoon the birch water and black malt oil around.  Garnish with the wild clover.

Live sea scallops lightly cured with young redwood shoots  / sour buttermilk and frozen coconut / red seaweed / native coastal plants and succulents

1 live sea scallop
200g  sea salt
30g young redwood shoots, stems removed
100g raw buttermilk
8g grated young ginger
1 finger lime, cells removed
1 mature coconut, shelled and peeled, white flesh only
30g salt-cured red seaweed, rinsed well
4 each wild sand leeks
8 small pieces wild salicornia
1 small bunch wild agretti
1 small bunch wild watercress 

scallop
Place the salt and redwood shoots in a pacojet canister, using four blad cutter spin 1 full cycle.  Sprinkle the scallop with this mixture, cover and let cure for 20 minutes.  Rinse off the cure, dry the scallop then rest uncovered in the cooler for 30 minutes.  Slice into 8 thin slices.  Reserve.

 Buttermilk
Mix the buttermilk together with the ginger and marinate for 1 hour.  Strain through a chinois then add the finger limes.  Refrigerate.

 Coconut
Grate the coconut with a box grater.  Pack firmly into a pacojet canister and freeze for several hours.  Pacotize to a fine powder using standard blade.

 Presentation
Roll up the scallops and arrange in a large circle pattern in the middle of a bowl.  Artfully arrange the seaweed, sand leeks, salicornia, agretti, and watercress on top.  Place a large spoon of the coconut powder in the middle and make a well in the center of the powder.  Spoon the buttermilk in the middle of the coconut powder.

We are looking forward to our upcoming Demo class at Sam Tell in New York. Let us know if you plan to join us.

We were lucky enough to have Jordan Kahn from Red Medicine in LA work on a few recipes for us. Jordan is a chef who takes his plates to a whole new leavel when plating.  Jordan developed a three course meal for us. This is the first course. We will post other courses over the next month. After recieving these recipes from him I knew I had to visit the restaurant. I was not disappointed, in fact I was so overwhelmed that it is in the top three meals I've had this year.

Aerated Sonoma county Foie gras / abalone mushroom / raw cauliflower and burnt cream / snake beans cooked with a jam of dried scallops and sweet soy / virgin walnut oil

 1 lobe grade A foie gras, cleaned and de-veined
1 L  whole milk
35g salt
5g sugar
10g curing salt
300g whole milk
300g cream
1 medium abalone mushroom, thinly sliced
1 head cauliflower
1 liter cream
100g sweet echiré butter
70g  virgin fish sauce
200g snake beans, blanched in salted water
20g canola oil
100g smoked bacon, ground
4g dried Chinese red chili
30g dried scallops, ground
200g sweet soy sauce
15g minced garlic
100g black vinegar
wild herbs
virgin walnut oil
salt 

foie gras

Soak the foie gras in milk for 12 hours.  Rinse under cold water, then dice the foie gras into 2-inch cubes.  Toss with the salt, sugar, and curing salt.  Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.   Gently warm the foie gras in a medium bowl until very soft.  Strain through a chinois and scale to 500g, add the 300g of the milk and cream.  Transfer to a pacojet canister and refrierate.  Using the whipping blade, pacotize once, then store in the cooler until use.

Cauliflower

Take the head of cauliflower and shave 10 thin slices on the mandoline.  Take the remaining cauliflower and chop into small pieces.  Scale out 500g of cauliflower trim.  Cook the cauliflower peices and cream together in a medium pot over low heat for about 1 hour until the cauliflower is very soft.  Meanwhile, heat the end of a hot iron poker over a direct flame for about 20 minutes, or until the metal becomes a light orange color.  Plunge the tip of the hot poker in the cream for about 30 seconds until the cream takes on a smoky, burnt flavor.  Transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Add the butter to the blender while running.  Strain through a chinois and add the fish sauce.

Sweet soy jam

In a small pot begin rendering the bacon until brown and crispy.  Add the garlic and dried scallops and sauté until lightly browned.  Add the chili, sweet soy, and black vinegar and cook for about 30 minutes over medium heat.  Season with salt. 

Snake beans

In a large sauté pan, sauté the snake beans over high heat until charred but still have texture.  Add the sweet soy jam and toss to coat.

Presentation

Arrange snake beans in a wreathlike shape on a plate. Place mushrooms and shaved cauliflower around. Place a spoonful of the foie gras in the center.  Pour the hot cream over the foie gras and drizzle with the walnut oil.  Garnish with the wild herbs.