Sugar Savvy

Awhile back, while in the Starchefs ICC in NYC, I approached the resident bookstore. I had my mind set on getting Pichet Ong’s Book. Since he was scheduled to sign books later that day, I decided to postpone my buy until he was there. Elizabeth Falkner, however, was there. She recommended that I get her book instead. I took a look at the book and liked it enough to get it.

There have been a couple of recipes from the book that I’ve liked, and while I’ve never done a recipe in its entirety, some of the recipe components have helped me complete some desserts. NorCal is one of those desserts; it’s composed by a Chevre rice pudding, candied kumquats, dates and pistachios. Just the thought of it gets me drooling.

For a recent dinner, I decided to take NorCal and use it as inspiration for dessert. I couldn’t use the rice pudding because not everyone in the group was fond of it, so I decided to make it into a flan. No rice, just a good old goat cheese flan. Candied kumquats would have to be replaced by oranges, because getting kumquats on short notice and a short budget around here would be tough. I decided to turn them into an orange purée. The pistachios would be made into a crumble and the dates simply chopped and set on the plate.

The dinner party enjoyed it, and insisted that this has to go on the menu for an upcoming project.

In case you’re interested, the recipe’s here.