My submission for week four of Steemit-Iron Chef is a dessert:
Zucchini and Matcha Panna Cotta, topped with Crispy Zucchini "Waste", a Raw Zucchini Sauce and Zucchini/Matcha chips
Here is the proof so we can get to the pudding!
After learning about this week's ingredient I immediately thought about making a dessert. I love zucchini cake and wanted to think of a dessert to modernist this wonderful vegetable. Pairing zucchini with matcha seemed like a great idea and I also used lemon to pull the whole idea together.
Panna Cotta
I have been using this recipe for twenty years! It works perfectly and so why change it...? Well, this time I had to modify it slightly to include zucchini and matcha. But, It came out great so I am so happy! The recipe is funny because it come from Charlie Trotter's 1994 book called Charlie Trotter's. But the recipe is actually credited to Nancy Sliverton. Charlie loved her panna cotta so much that he included it in his book! I love that. I love when chefs acknowledge that another chef has made something amazing.
So, here is my modified version of Nancy's recipe:
- .75 teaspoons granulated gelatin
- .75 cups heavy cream
- .25 cups zucchini juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- .5 teaspoon matcha
- .25 teaspoon lemon zest
Panna Cotta Method
- Add 2 tablespoons of water to the gelatin and let it sit for a few minutes to hydrate.
- Heat the cream and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
- Combine the gelatin, cream, zucchini juice, matcha and lemon zest.
- Pour this mixture into your mold and refrigerate to set.
Zucchini "Waste" Crisps
I love to find a new use for something that we have always considered "waste". I often made juices and felt horrible tossing the fiber of the vegetables just because I want to drink juice! And when people say "you can compost it". I think yes this is true... But the fiber is enormously healthful to consume. So, while I might want an easily digestible juice in the morning why not keep the fiber to include in another meal of the day?
Here is the zucchini "waste" from making juice. I just added a big three finger pinch of sugar and the zest of 1/4 lemon. I spread it out onto a dehydrator and let it go at 125F for 24 hours.
As it dried, I shredded it into irregular shapes and let it dry more. Zucchini is basically water held together by cells! It takes a long time to dry!
Raw Zucchini Sauce
I wanted a raw vegetal quality to the dessert, to skirt the line between sweet and savory. The sauce seemed like an easy way to do that. The problem was that pure zucchini juice was too thin the be a sauce. So, I simply whisked into the juice some Ultra-tex. Ultra-tex is a modified version of tapioca and it does not affect the flavor of the sauce and it works without having to heat the sauce.
- Juice from one zucchini
- Whisk in one teaspoon of Ultra-tex
Zucchini Chips
- Slice one zucchini thin
- Heat a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water
- Poach the zucchini in the liquid for 5 minutes.
- Drain and cool the zucchini and arrange on a dehydrator
- Dehydrate for 12 hours or until crisp
- dust with matcha before plating
If you have made it this far than thank you for reading, I hope you have enjoyed the content!
If you want to continue than I would love for you to comment below if you liked or did not like this post! I love negative feedback as it makes me a better poster! Thank you for visiting today! Steve