Recipe: Guacamole with Pistachios

by Anna Mowry on January 08, 2013

When it comes to guacamole upgrades, we used to think that we had seen it all, but we were happily proven wrong at Empellón Cocina, where the house guacamole comes loaded with pistachios. Chef and wd~50 veteran Alex Stupak, who tells us that his favorite flavor is "crunchy", gently toasts the nuts in olive oil, then folds them into a minimal mix of avocado, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, and lime juice. A little toasting oil, infused with flavor of the pistachios, is spooned over the dip before serving.

Get the recipe here. The guacamole will also be on offer when the Empellón team cooks at the Beard House on... Read more >

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Recipe: Tocino de Cielo with Golden Raisins

by Anna Mowry on January 03, 2013

When it comes to custard, we tend to add rather than subtract. Stirring starch into custard yields pastry cream for filling éclairs and cream puffs. Lighten that with whipped cream and you've made crème légère. But Anthony Sasso, the current chef at New York City's beloved Casa Mono, recently introduced us to tocino de cielo, an intense Spanish custard that omits dairy and relies only on water, sugar, and egg yolks. The water and sugar are combined to make a simple syrup (Sasso infuses his with orange, lemon, and cinnamon), which is whisked with the yolks before baking.

The dessert originated in Spain's Jerez region, where sherry producers were left with a glut of egg yolks after reserving the whites to clarify... Read more >

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'Tis the Season...To Make Cookies

by Anya Hoffman on December 21, 2012

This is the time of year when bakers both amateur and professional tend to find themselves in the kitchen surrounded by pounds of butter and mountains of chocolate chips. For those of you with plans to channel your inner pastry chef over the next couple of weeks, here are some of our favorite holiday cookies.

Corn Flake-Candy Cane Cookies

"We take the insane amount of candy canes my mother sends to the bakery," says Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar, "break them up, and fold them into a corn flake-chocolate chip-marshmallow cookie dough with a little mint extract for some serious holiday flair."

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

David Leite of Leite's Culinaria set off a national cookie-baking frenzy after this recipe for the ne plus ultra in chocolate... Read more >

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Recipe: White Chocolate–Cassis Crème Brûlée

by Anna Mowry on December 12, 2012

These days a crème brûlée needs to be pretty unique to get our attention. Chef Travis Brust, who helms the kitchen at the historic Williamsburg Inn, has a bi-level version that succeeds. He makes a syrup of crème de cassis, port, cinnamon, and star anise, then drizzles it into ramekins before adding the requisite custard, which he soups up with white chocolate. The syrup needs to be heated to 228°F in order to reach the correct consistency (pastry chefs will recognize this as the thread stage), so make sure your candy thermometer is taking accurate readings.

 ... Read more >

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