Off the Menu

Off the Menu: Eric Nigg's Kulfi

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Local comedian Eric Nigg isn't a renowned culinary authority, but he deserves to be considered one — at least vis-a-vis the Indian ice cream-style dessert kulfi. He brought this stuff over to my place to follow a meal of homemade chicken tikka masala, and it was cool, refreshing, subtle and damned delicious.

Kulfi — Ingredients

8 cups milk
1 cups cream
A generous pinch of saffron, about 8-12 strands
1 tsp. ground cardamom (best if freshly ground)
1 cup sugar
A few tablespoons shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely ground with a
pinch of salt and a heavier pinch of sugar
Additional pistachio for garnish, if desired

Bring the milk, saffron and cardamom to a gentle simmer. Stir regularly as the milk simmers until the volume of milk is reduced by half. Add sugar to dissolve. Add cream, and refrigerate until chilled, generally several hours or overnight.

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker with a 6 cup capacity (if your machine
is smaller, the recipe can easily be halved). After 20-25 minutes, stir in most of the seasoned pistachio mixture.

I reserved some of the pistachio mixture for a nifty silicone mold I generally leave, neglected, stowed above my kitchen cupboards. I simply sprinkled the pistachios into the bottom of the mold before pouring in the ice cream mixture. Freeze the molds overnight. Unmold and serve, perhaps with some additional broken pistachios.

If you don't have such a mold, sprinkle the pistachio over scoops of ice
cream after it's hardened in the freezer overnight.

In place of pistachios, almonds work quite well.

This kind of kulfi is ordinarily poured straight into a mold and frozen, rather than using the intermediary step of an ice cream maker, but the ice cream maker results in a smoother, softer texture. The extra cream, generally not used in Indian recipes, makes the ice cream extraordinarily rich and indulgent.

Although it's also not typical in Indian recipes for kulfi, the small hint of salt in the pistachio helps bring out all the other flavors in the ice cream. Like the great salted peanut butter ice cream at Seattle's Veil, one of the most remarkable items I've sampled there, it may evoke some strong reactions: At Veil, people either love it or hate it. I don't use as much salt as Veil does in my pistachio blend, so nobody who has tried my version was terribly shocked, but getting the balance might be tricky. Start with just a little pinch.

Posted by James Norton at March 20, 2008 1:40 AM | Comments (1)

 

Off the Menu: Noah Barton's Chilaquiles

Filed under: Off the Menu

One of the attendees of my "brunch for dinner" party late last year was Chino Latino's executive chef, Noah Barton. His contribution to the gathering was a dish that — frankly — didn't sound that impressive, in theory.

But then, it turned out that it was good. Really good. "Guests competitively scraping the bottom of the pan" good.

"Chilaquiles don't sound as good as they are," concedes Barton. "They're basically tortilla chips that are softened in a salsa and topped with eggs, and sour cream, and queso fresco — sometimes they're made with chicken or chorizo, depending on your preference."

"My first encounter with chilaquiles was when I was in Southern California. You could always tell when one of the line cooks was hung over, 'cause they would show up to work and start making chilaquiles right away. They're the typical Mexican hangover breakfast."

"I believe firmly in having them any time of the day, but they're typically a breakfast food. This recipe comes from one of the employees at Chino Latino who showed up hung over one day and showed us all how to make them."

Chilaquiles Rojas
Serves: About 8

1/2 pound chicken breast
2 cups chicken stock
2 tomatoes, cored
2 Guajillo chiles
1 jalapeno chile pepper, stemmed, halved
1/4 yellow onion, peeled, halved
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. cilantro, chopped
1 T. epazote, chopped
pinch oregano
salt to taste
6 ounces tortilla chips
4 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 pound queso fresco
1 T. cilantro, chopped

1. In large stockpot, combine chicken and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until chicken is tender, remove chicken and cool. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken and hold in refrigerator for later use.

2. Add tomatoes, guajillos, jalapeno and halved onion to chicken stock. Cover and bring to a low boil for 30-45 minutes.

3. Saute onions and garlic in large saute pan until translucent and slightly browned. Set aside.

4. Remove simmering vegetables from heat, add oregano, epazote, and cilantro. Completely puree with mixer to make salsa.

To make chilaquiles:

1. Heat chicken, salsa and tortilla chips over medium heat in large saute pan, stirring frequently and tossing to mix well.

2. Heat non-stick saute pan and spray with Pam or add clarified butter. Add eggs and cook over easy.

3. When tortillas are beginning to soften (not soggy), remove from heat and place on large serving platter. Add over easy eggs and top with queso fresco, sour cream and chopped cilantro.

4. Kiss that hangover "adios."

Posted by James Norton at March 13, 2008 11:24 AM | Comments (0)