Our four-times-a-year dinner group that we euphemistically call “grub club” met recently. The host and hostess determine the theme and the other three couples bring their assigned courses accordingly. The theme was seafood. As with the time that the theme was capsicum, our course was dessert. I think I detect a throw-down challenge here. There were rules with this one: no “C-food” and no “See food”.
It’s a good thing that I spend so much time thinking about food and have so many resources at hand in magazines and cookbooks. I very quickly determined that I was not going to put any type of seafood into a sweet dessert. The hot pepper theme was much easier as ancho chile powder and chocolate are a nice mix. But fish and sugar? I don’t think so.
That left sea themes or names. I bandied about tart shells, sponge cake, Palm Beach pineapple squares, currant (as in ocean current?) cookies, seafoam candy and Miami Beach cake, but finally settled on floating island with Madeleine cookies (made in a special pan to look like shells). The floating island recipe that I used was sprinkled with an almond praline which I also scattered on the service plate to look like sand. I brought my cobalt blue glass dessert bowls to serve it in, and, all in all, I think was a seafood dessert success.
The other courses were really marvelous and, as always, we had a great time and a veritable feast. These four couples have been together for more than 10 years and every one of them cooks superbly. Appetizers were crab cakes with a wonderful remoulade and a shrimp and cream cheese spread.
First course was seviche. Seviche can vary a lot as the ingredients are not set in stone. A Mexican dish by origin, it was usually an ocean fish that was “cooked” with lime juice but it has come to mean any fish or seafood that you “cook” with citrus acid rather than heat.
The main course was fish tacos, grilled by our host, along with delicious corn on the cob. Condiments were many and unusual, including mayonnaise for the corn which I found out is a staple in Mexico. The corn was so sweet and delicious and grilled to perfection that I ate mine unadorned.
After searching through many recipes for the floating island, I settled on one from Ina Garten of the Food Network (Barefoot Contessa). It was really wonderful even if it sported a somewhat affected name, Ile Flottante. It’s a bit fussy on the caramel sauce and the custard sauce and you can get almost as good results using a jarred caramel sauce and making the custard sauce from a package of instant vanilla pudding. You add three cups of half and half instead of 2 cups of milk and some Bailey’s Irish Cream (about 2 Tbsp.)
Ceviche
1 pound scallops
1 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup diced avocado
½ cup minced red onion
½ cup finely chopped seeded tomato
¼ cup cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp. minced jalapeno
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
¼ tsp. cumin
Pat the seafood dry and place in a glass bowl. Cover with the lime juice and let marinate until opaque, about 3 hours, refrigerated. Place the seafood in a clean bowl and reserve the lime juice. Add the remaining ingredients to the seafood, gently stirring to mix. Add reserved lime juice to taste. Refrigerate for 1 hour and serve chilled in a tall martini or cocktail glass. (recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2001)
Ile Flottante (Ina Garten)
2 ½ cups sugar, divided
1 cup water, divided
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
1 ½ cups (5 oz) sliced almonds
8 extra-large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
Crème Anglaise, recipe follows
Preheat oven to 350 deg.
For caramel, heat 1 ½ cups of the sugar and ½ cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Cook over medium heat until the syrup turns a warm caramel color. Don’t stir, just swirl it in the pan. Off heat, add ½ cup water and ½ tsp vanilla; be careful, the syrup will bubble violently. Stir and cook over high heat until the caramel reaches 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. Set aside. Por the praline combine the almonds with ¼ cup of the caramel and spread them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the almonds are lightly browned. Allow to cool at room temperature and then break up in pieces.
Lower the oven to 250 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. For the meringues, beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed until frothy. Turn the mixer on high speed and add the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Beat until the egg whites are very stiff and glossy. Whisk in the remaining teaspoon of vanilla. With dessert spoons place 12 mounds of meringue on the parchment paper and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
For serving, pour crème Anglaise on the bottom of individual plates. Place a meringue on top of each serving, drizzle with caramel sauce, sprinkle with praline and serve.
Crème Anglaise:
4 extra-large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 ¾ cups scalded milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream
Beat the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed for 3 minutes or until very thick. Reduce to low speed and add the cornstarch. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the eggs. Pour the custard mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened. The custard will coat the spoon like heavy cream. Don’t cook it above 180 degrees or the eggs will scramble. Pour the sauce through a fine strainer, add the vanilla extract, liqueur and chill. Yield: 2 cups.
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