TOWER Recipes (Cooking)

:

1 bottle dry Champagne
6 large fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1/8 teaspoon salt
White Pepper
4 large sprigs fresh mint, left intact but well washed and dried in a salad spinner or with paper toweling
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
12 small sprigs fresh mint, for garnish

Directions

Combine Champagne, peaches, salt, large sprigs of mint, and white pepper in a large saucepan or deep pot. Cook for 20 minutes over medium heat to infuse flavors. Remove from heat and remove large mint sprigs. Adjust salt and white pepper, if needed. Blend with an immersion blender and chill. Serve in demitasse cups garnished with 1/2 teaspoon creme fraiche and small mint sprigs.

Ingredients:

2 large red bell peppers, washed and halved with stems and seeds removed
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 tablespoons pine nuts, chopped
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt, if needed
1 baguette loaf, cut into 24 pieces
2 cups Champagne
1 fresh lime
24 large scallops

1. Roast or grill the red bell peppers until the skins are charred then, using tongs transfer them to a covered container such as a small pan with a lid or even a plastic zip-loc bag to let them rest. Peel them when cool.
2. Prepare the pesto. Cut the peeled red peppers (julienne then crosswise into 1/8-inch pieces) and combine with garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil. Fold in parmesan cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper. Add salt only if needed, since the cheese will add saltiness.
3. Toast the baguette slices lightly on a baking sheet and set aside.
4. Bring Champagne to a boil in a saucepan. Squeeze in juice of lime, then add scallop and poach until they are no longer translucent. Remove scallops to a utility platter and let Champagne reduce by about two-thirds.
5. Spoon some red pepper pesto onto each slice of bread and top with a scallop. Top with a small amount of the champagne reduction and serve.

1 pound plus 5 ounces milk chocolate, tempered
5 ounces champagne
5 ounces cream
18 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons invert sugar or corn syrup
1 tablespoon marc de champagne
2 ounces butter, softened
Special Equipment: Polycarbonate truffle mold (champagne corks)

DIRECTIONS

1. Using a ladle, fill 2 cork molds with chocolate. When they are full, empty the excess back into the bowl of chocolate. The inside of the molds should be evenly coated with chocolate. Wipe the lip of the molds clean and place them upside down on a wire rack over a baking sheet to drain. Once the chocolate starts to harden, about 5 minutes, use a wide pastry scraper to clean the edges of each cavity clean. This is important because when the chocolate sets, it shrinks or retracts from the sides of the mold. A clean edge will keep it from sticking and cracking as it shrinks. You can place the mold in the refrigerator for several minutes to help the chocolate to harden.

2. Place the champagne and cream into a small saucepan and heat the mixture to a boil. Pour the hot champagne mixture over the chopped chocolate and corn syrup and blend until smooth with an immersion hand blender. Add the marc du champagne and the butter and blend until smooth with an immersion hand blender. Allow the mixture to cool until it has a thick consistency (thick enough to pipe). Place the mixture in a piping bag and pipe it into the chocolate filled molds. Let set overnight. Close the bottom of one mold by apply chocolate with an offset spatula. Scrape clean then press the two molds together evenly. Allow to set. When the chocolate has set, remove the whole "corks" from the molds.
to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

3. How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):
Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.

4. Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.