Delicious dust
Powdering miniaturizes food, intensifies flavor
The season of glut has passed. Traditional recipes have been doled out and served as required. Now the craving for something new strikes. One word: Powders. Powders are top-of-the-line treatment for food. A powerful pop of flavor that lingers on the palate like the memory of a moment you want to preserve as long as possible. This is not the dusty old spice or the clunky predictable stock flavoring found on the grocer’s shelf; this is an intensely bold new twist on old favorites that is fresh and limited only by the cook’s own creativity. Think gourmet. Think easy artisan. Think secret weapon.
Powders are the ultra-concentrated essence of a food that has been dried and ground to a power. This technique, often used for traditional spices, easily converts common staples into the mystical magical ingredients that put the signature touch on an array of culinary creations.
Powders possess the same flavor as the fresh food source but are highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. They are also a clever way to infuse nutrients into foods without adding bulk. In short, powders are amazing, and deceptively simple to make.
Taking inspiration from innovators at West Coast Bar Tartine and its new release, Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes by Cortney Burns and Nicolaus Balla, we quickly filled our spice pantry with palate-punching powders. What you will need: Food to powder such as fresh leafy herbs, citrus fruit, berries, vegetables and/ or lean meats.
For drying: An oven or food dehydrator, rimmed baking sheets, a wire rack.
For powdering: A small spice mill, coffee grinder, mortar and pestle or decent-quality food processor.
For storing: Jars with tight-fitting lids.
Work in small batches so that powders can be consumed easily within two months. As with all aromatics, flavor dulls with time on the cupboard shelf.
Many fruits and vegetables need blanching or boiling to remove their natural and added waxy coatings, which can reduce the ability of the product to dry. The counter-intuitive step of boiling something in water before drying actually increases the ability of the food to completely release moisture, which leads to better drying.
Nothing has an aroma like citrus fruit.
Citrus powders can be added to baked goods in place of zest; added
to sauces, syrups and meat glazes for extra flavor; mixed in beverages and blended with oil and vinegar for bright salad dressings.
Clementines are a thinner-skinned, sweeter variety of orange that are popular during the winter. They have a warmer, less astringent aroma than lemon or navel oranges when powdered. They also have much less pith to remove and dry quickly. Four or five clementines will yield approximately 2 ounces of powder.
Clementine Powder 5 clementines, quartered Water Parchment paper
Peel clementines. Reserve peels. Save flesh for another use.
In a large pot, bring 5 cups of water to boil on the stove and add peels. Boil for 3 minutes; drain. Repeat process two more times. After the third boil, drain and completely cool peels. Scrape away any white pith from the peels using a spoon. Discard pith. Arrange peels in a single layer on dehydrator trays or a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dry in a food dehydrator according to manufacturer’s instructions until completely dry, or in oven on lowest heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or until completely dry and brittle. Process to a powder in spice mill or food processor. Transfer to an airtight container such as small jar. Store on cool, dry shelf.
Makes about 2 ounces.
VARIATIONS
Sublime Lime: Repeat the process above, substituting 5 large limes for the clementines.
Mixed Citrus: Repeat the process above with a variety of citrus such as lemon and lime or grapefruit and tangerine.
Recipe adapted from Bar Tartine:
Techniques & Recipes by Cortney
Burns, Nicolaus Balla
Blueberries and cranberries also make wonderful powders. They are processed in the same manner. Blueberries will impart a concentrated, sweet flavor, and cranberries will bring a tart cranberry tang to recipes. Blueberry or Cranberry
Powder Water 2 cups fresh blueberries or
cranberries Parchment paper Wire rack
Bring 5 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Add berries and boil until berries begin to pop. Remove from heat; drain.
Spread drained berries on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using the back of a large spoon or the bottom of a glass, mash berries flat and spread out over the sheet. Dry in oven on lowest heat setting for several hours or until the mashed berries reach a leather consistency. Peel berry leather from parchment and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet. Lay berry leather over rack, return pan to oven and continue drying until berry leather is dry and brittle and breaks when bent. It should not be pliable. Powder in a food processor or spice mill. Store in small glass jar with tight lid.
Makes about 2 ounces.
Powdering fresh herbs is a must if you are looking to move away from the faded flakes found in your pantry. Fresh basil turned into a powder creates the most intense basil flavor we’ve ever experienced. The powder is wonderful sprinkled on fresh pasta that has been tossed in olive oil.
Herb Powder 4 ounces tender fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro or tarragon
Heat oven to 150 degrees or its lowest setting. Spread out herbs on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and brittle, 60 to 90 minutes. Working in batches, grind herbs in a spice mill to a fine powder.
Makes about 1 ounce powder. Recipe adapted from bonappetit. com
Powders also allow for the creation of flavor blends that are custom-made for your palate. Consider blending citrus, ginger and cranberry together, or basil and lime. The following is a heady robust blend of citrus, spices and vanilla. While most blends are just a mixing of the powders, this blending occurred during the boiling process.
The blend is best utilized when steeped with loose-leaf tea. If adding to hot water and bag tea, you will notice some sediment as larger pieces of the peel rehydrate. Finer powder reduces this, as does straining the tea. Aromatic Clementine
Winter Tea Lifter Peel from 5 clementines 3 cinnamon sticks 2 tablespoons cloves 4 tablespoons vanilla extract 4 cups of water
Combine the peel, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Remove from heat; allow to cool.
Scrape the white pith from the citrus peel and discard.
Arrange cleaned peels on dehydrator racks and set to high or place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven on its lowest setting. Dry until peel is no longer pliable and breaks and cracks when bent. Process dried peel in a food processor or spice mill in batches until all peel is reduced to powder. Store in small glass jars with tight-fitting lids on a cool shelf. Add a few grains of uncooked rice to each jar to absorb any moisture.
Vegetables are also good candidates for powdering. Savory powders add nice undertones to gravies and soups as well as flavor accents in lieu of salting. The following is a blend created to add to water and use as vegetable stock in soup recipes.
Make the powders called for in this recipe by peeling and coring (if necessary), thinly slicing and blanching the vegetables and then drying them in a food dehydrator or oven using the method described above. Powdered Vegetable
Soup Base 1½ tablespoons bell pepper
powder 1 tablespoon carrot powder 1 tablespoon celery powder 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon sweet potato
powder ½ tablespoon basil powder
In a small bowl, combine all of the powders and mix well. Transfer to an airtight container.
Makes about ½ cup. Quick and Easy Vegetable Soup 1 tablespoon Powdered
Vegetable Soup Base 1 (15 ½ -ounce) can mixed
vegetables 2 cups of water 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce Salt, to taste
Combine the Powdered Vegetable Soup Base, canned vegetables, water and tomato sauce in a medium pot. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt to taste.
Makes about 5 cups.
Probably the most surprising discovery was that lean meats are really easy to powder and provide a very versatile ingredient for a number of recipes. The research for this article was occurring during the November and December holidays when there was an abundance of ham, leading to the creation of the following recipe.
Ham, a naturally salty meat, when powdered can be a nice substitute for salt and imparts a subtle smoky flavor to vegetables and salads. For safety, store this one in the refrigerator. The ham powder combined with cornstarch or flour and seasoned to taste makes decent red-eye gravy. The trick is to also dehydrate and powder some of the ham drippings along with the ham.
Use a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a low oven, or a dehydrator with leathering trays, until dry. Two sheets of ham and one sheet of drippings will yield about 4½ ounces of powder. The ham powder can also be added to brown beans or soup to add extra flavor. 2 tablespoons ham powder (see method described above) 2 tablespoons cornstarch or
flour 2 cups cold water
In a large skillet, whisk together the ham powder, cornstarch and cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately over ham, potatoes or biscuits.
Red Eye Gravy