Dish of the Week: Fresh marshmallows
One of my favorite gifts to give at the office is homemade candy. It’s a nice and relatively inexpensive way to show your appreciation to a large group of people. In the past, I have made chocolate-covered sea salt caramels, but dipping them in chocolate can be labor intensive. They’re enough of a treat that you’ll want to save them for someone special.
This summer, I tried a fresh strawberry-flavored marshmallow for the first time. It was bursting with fruity flavor, and make Jet-Puffed seem very sad (though of course they have their place). As it turns out making marshmallows at home requires little labor and few ingredients.
While many marshmallow recipes call for egg whites, it’s still possible to make delicious marshmallows with only gelatin, sugar, corn syrup, and flavor of your choice.
Strawberry marshmallows – recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Cooking for Engineers
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. cornstarch
2/3 c. water
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 c. strawberry puree
2 1/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
Combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch. Reserve 3/4 of the mixture. Grease a 9”x13” pan, and use a sieve to coat the bottom with powdered sugar and cornstarch. (Don’t use only powdered sugar, as it will absorb moisture and make your marshmallows sticky again.)
Put the water in to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Sprinkle the gelatin packets on top of the water, allowing it to bloom (allow the gelatin granules to expand).
In a saucepan, combine the strawberry puree, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. (The corn syrup helps stabilize the crystalline structure of the sugar so that it doesn’t reform in to the standard sugar crystals.) Boil the combination to 240F or soft-ball stage (when a ball forms and holds when a droplet is dropped into a cup of cold water).
Turn on mixer on low and drizzle the syrup in to the gelatin. After all the syrup has been incorporated, add lemon juice. Then increase the speed of the mixer until the mixture stiffens and increases in volume approximately three times. It should transform from clear to opaque, and cool.
Pour the mixture in to the baking pan, and allow to sit uncovered three hours or overnight. Remove the marshmallow from the pan, cut in to pieces, and roll unpowdered sides in the reserved mixture.
Small Bites
Think he’ll sign my book with foam?
José Andrés, the man who always seems to be everywhere, will be signing copies of his cookbooks Made in Spain, and Tapas: A Taste of Spain tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the Bethesda Jaleo. [via Eater]
Eighteenth Street… Market?
Shophouse Southeast Asian Kitchen might be getting some competition from the restaurant group that owns The Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang’s. According to the Washington Business Journal, Pei Wei Asian Market is set to lease space at 1212 18th St. NW, the same building at Eighteenth Street Lounge. The restaurant is a condensed version of their diner concept, serving fast casual Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai food.
Team Burr
Washington City Paper took a look at The Hamilton, a new restaurant/music venue by the Clyde’s group opening near Metro Center set to open December 18. The menu includes sushi, ramen, and hangar steak poutine. While sushi and ramen seem like good complements, the poutine takes the menu toward the amorphous blobbyness of the gargantuan Cheesecake Factory menu. However, I am pretty excited to see DCist favorite Christylez Bacon playing on December 28.
One wing to rule them all
DC Beer got down to the hard research of finding the best buffalo wing in town. It’s a lot of work, but as a buffalo wing purist, I have to quibble with their winner, Churchkey. Boys, buffalo wings should NOT be breaded.
Holiday duck and cover
Winter is the time to eat duck, and The Source is doing a special Peking duck meal for $49 per person between December 22-24. Along with the little packets of crispy skin (because that’s what it’s all about), you’ll get seasonal sides and a slice of 15-layer carrot cake. Reservations for the meal are required, and can be made by calling 202-637-6100.
