Skate with Taditional Flavors Powdered

This months Daring Cook Challenge was an adventure in molecular cuisine. We made Skate with Traditional Flavors Powdered.

I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about this challenge, and I wasn't the only one. The challenge was far more strict with its permitted substitutions. This is a big drawback for me since I live with some picky eaters. But I decided to take the challenge and make it work.

I made the fish (cod) with banana for myself as the challenge dictated and chicken with plantain for Chris since he does not eat fish and he LOVES plantains. But the real challenge was making the powders without a dehydrator.

It took me quite some time to make this meal. The powders took some time, I think it would have been much easier in a dehydrator.

The parsley and cilantro were really fast. I am not exactly sure why we had to blanch them first, I wouldn't think the color would change that much, but I did it. It took about twice as long in the microwave as the directions stated, but that only totals 2 min. Not a biggie. I should have stopped there, cuz I did start to burn (read: a small fire started int he microwave) the mix in the microwave. It ended-up with a smokey flavor.

I don't have a coffee grinder and I didn't want to buy one so I used my mini food processor.

There wasn't a time on the capers. So I just kept zapin'em. I think it took a total of about 8-10 min. to get them really dry. I ran the onion through the food processor first and then made sure to stir them multiple times through the cooking. I also took them out a few times to let the steam escape. Since the humidity is a bit higher here I suspected things might take a bit longer. I think it took about 30-35 min for the onion.

I used the powdered milk to make the brown butter powder. It was pretty easy.

Instead of lemon I decided to use orange. The orange took awhile. Probably 15-20 min. Again I was constantly rotating and flipping the orange peels. Because we had to poach the zest first I kept the zest in bigger pieces, which might have added to the time as well.

I thought I would try some other powders as well. I thought a nice combo with the orange would be something a bit tropical. I guess the citrus with the banana made me think of it. So I thought coconut, and macadamia nut would be tasty. The coconut was very dry and unsweetened. I found it at Whole Foods. But I decided I could get it a bit finer, but it just released the oils so it came out a bit clumpy. I am not versed enough in Molecular cooking to know how to fix that, so I just left it alone.

I wanted to toast the nuts a bit first. I forgot about them, oops! So I burnt them instead.
So I went with a back-up plan, almonds. I didn't have time to try and dry them any more, so they, too, were a bit clumpy.

Finally, I thought portabella mushrooms might be fun. I couldn't get them very powdered. But what the heck, I already had 2 clumpy "powders" what is one more.
So it was time to move onto the meal. I sliced the green beans.I then made my Beurre Monte. I knew the chicken would take the longest so I cooked it first. Since the plantain I found was a bit great I decided it would best be served mashed. So I poached it with the chicken in the the Beurre Monte. I used the thermometer on the chicken, just to make sure.
Once they were done, I mashed the plantains, then I began to cook the green beans and poach the fish.
It seemed to go pretty smoothly. Here is the chicken and plantain dish plated with the brown butter powder on top. I had all 6 powders swirled under the plantain mash.
Here is the cod with the brown butter on top and the bananas beneath. I decided to make 2 swirls for the fish. On one side I had the orange, almond, and coconut. The other side had onion/caper, parsley/cilantro, and mushroom.

Both Chris and I enjoyed the meal. The interesting part was my banana. It was the sweetest banana I had ever eaten. So my meal ended-up pretty sweet. We agreed it was not something we would want all the time, but for a special or fun occasion it is a nice little change. We both found the orange powder VERY overpowering. It was an intense flavor. I also thought it was a bit bitter, like eating an orange rind. And since that is what it is made of, it wasn't too surprising. The mushroom had a nice woody flavor.






The recipe as I received it:

Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - with changes

• 4 skate wings
• * Beurre monte
• * 300g fresh green beans
• sea salt/kosher salt
• 1 banana
• 454g butter - 4 sticks
• 300g lemons
• 5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
• 150g cilantro
• 150g parsley
• 100g dried banana chips
• 300g spray dried cream powder (or powdered milk)
• 100g cup minced red onion
• 200g capers (brined, not oil)

* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.
Powders - prepare ahead of time
caper / onion
lemon powder
cilantro/parsley powder
'brown butter' powder
Powders
once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee grinder/spice mill/morter and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.
citrus powder
300g lemons
1000g simple syrup
5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
zest 300g of lemons (10.6 oz), remove the pith from the zest and poach in the simple syrup three times. dry with paper towels and move to a dehydrating tray. 130 for 12 hours. pulse the zest in a coffee grinder, pass through chinois, and mix with citric acid/vitamin C powder.
If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes at medium powder. Once dried, follow the other instructions.
cilantro/parsley powder
150g cilantro
150g parsley
blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes. Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray. 130 for 12 hours. grind and pass through chinois.
If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave for another thirty seconds. They should be dry by now, pulse in coffee grinder, pass through chinois and reserve.
onion powder
100g cup minced red onions
dehydrator - 130 for 12 hours
microwave at medium power for 20 minutes.
pulse in grinder, pass through chinois
Caper powder
200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)
run the capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine.
dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees.
microwave instructions are unclear. Dry them as much a possible with paper towels, the microwave on medium for 1 minute. Check the moisture content and stir them. repeat for 30 second intervals until they are dry. If you use this method, pleas post the time needed to dry the capers.
Once dry, pulse and sift the powder. Mix it with the onion powder.
Brown Butter powder
100g Dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)
300g spray dried cream powder
If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob's red mill non fat dry milk powder, or even carnation instant milk powder. The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea.
preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or on parchment. bake for 4 minutes, then remove for heat. If it bakes for too long, it will burn. Be very cautious with all powders in the oven. They all go from browned to burnt in a few seconds.
grind the banana chips in a coffee grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder. Pass this through a chinois and reserve.

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* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.
Skate
Prepare the skate - 50G v shaped cuts are recommended
Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt
bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.
Plating

Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion-caper powder, and the cilantro parsley-powder. Swirl these around in a hurricane type pattern. I found that it is easier, and you get finer lines if you lightly shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.
peel the remaining banana into very think slices (3mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top. On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.

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Substitutions
The Skate can be replaced with flounder or cod.
If you can get skate that is not 'prepared' IE - Skinned- get the fish monger to prepare it for you.
The powdered cream can be omitted completely, just replace it with more banana powder, or pineapple powder. Possibly non dairy creamer, but I have NO idea what would happen if you tried to brown it.
The poaching liquid is pretty much butter - it could be replaced with other poaching methods. Water, wine, bay leaf, garlic clove, pepper, etc. Try to go easy on the salt in the liquid if you use a replacement.
Disclaimer - the sample dish was made with cod because Skate was not available at the time in Richmond. Whole Foods usually carries it. Check your fish markets before you head out to buy some.