AVOCADO
Serves 6
This is Richie Farina’s take on a steak taco with guacamole. This looks like a whole avocado served in a mortar and pestle beside a steak taco. Grass-fed rib eye is tucked into a puffed corn tortilla with frozen sour cream dots. The “avocado” consists of fresh pico de gallo enrobed in a creamy avocado mousse inside a chocolate-jalapeño shell. The pit of the avocado is made out of frozen pureed tortilla chips. The avocado is smashed at the table to create a flavorful guacamole for the diners to enjoy with their steak taco.
AVOCADO SHELL:
500 grams 55% dark chocolate, chopped
3 medium jalapeños
Corn kernels cut from 4 ears of corn
TORTILLA CRISPS:
1700 grams (2 quarts) canola oil
75 grams corn tortillas
125 grams water
1 gram salt
150 grams tapioca starch
AVOCADO PIT:
Canola oil for frying
100 grams corn tortilla
200 grams water
5 grams salt
SOUR CREAM DOTS:
200 grams sour cream
20 grams fresh lime juice
1 gram salt
RIB EYE:
200 grams grass-fed rib eye
Salt for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
10 grams canola oil
SALSA:
120 grams tomatoes, seeds and skin removed, diced
20 grams jalapeño, seeded and minced
20 grams onion, diced
10 grams garlic, minced
10 grams fresh lime juice, plus more as needed
1 gram salt, plus more as needed
AVOCADO MOUSSE:
400 grams avocado flesh (from 3 to 4 medium avocados)
15 grams fresh lime juice
200 grams heavy cream
1.5 grams salt
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
6 chocolate egg molds
Butane torch
Masticating juicer
Dehydrator (optional)
Six 1-inch hemisphere molds
Liquid nitrogen (see Sources, here; optional)
Insulated container or dewar (optional)
6 mortars with pestles
AVOCADO SHELL:
Put 300 grams of the chocolate into a stainless-steel mixing bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Melt the chocolate, stirring, until it reaches 135°F. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and slowly add the remaining chocolate 20 grams at a time, stirring constantly to melt the added chocolate. Keep adding chocolate until the temperature reaches 88°F. Then set the bowl back over the simmering water and bring the temperature back up to 94°F. Once the chocolate has been tempered, pour it into half of 6 egg molds to form an avocado shell. Let the chocolate sit in the molds for 30 seconds, then pour out the excess. Run the flat side of a bench scraper across the top for a clean edge. Refrigerate the chocolate-coated molds for 20 minutes.
Set a rack on a sheet pan. Gently remove the shells from the molds and invert them onto the rack so that their hollow inside faces the bottom of the sheet pan. Reserve.
Remove the seeds from the jalapeños and char the outsides with a butane torch. Juice the kernels from 4 ears of corn in a masticating juicer and reserve the ground corn extruded from the juicer. Put the jalapeños and 50 grams of the ground corn on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 4 hours at 140°F or in your oven at the lowest setting until completely dry.
Transfer the dried vegetables to a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Put the powder in a small strainer. Run the butane torch briefly over the outside of the avocado shells and then sprinkle the coating over them. Reserve in a cool spot until ready to assemble.
TORTILLA CRISPS:
Preheat a deep fat fryer or pot of oil to 350°F.
Line a sheet pan with paper towels. Cut the tortilla into eighths. Fry in the oil until golden brown, about 1 minute. Reserve the oil to fry the dried tortilla circles. Transfer the chips to the prepared sheet pan to drain briefly. While still warm, put the chips in a blender with the water and salt. Puree on high for 1 minute until smooth. Put the tapioca starch in a large mixing bowl and add the tortilla puree. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in the bowl to make a dough.
Weigh out 180 grams of the tortilla dough. Lay 1 large sheet of plastic wrap on your countertop, put the dough on it, and cover with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, as thin as you can get it. You are looking for something about ‰ inch thick. Wrap the ends of the plastic wrap up around the dough so it is securely covered. Do the same with any remaining dough.
Set up a large steamer over simmering water. Steam the packets of dough for 20 minutes. Remove the dough from the steamer, lay it out on the counter, and let it cool slightly. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap from the dough and use a 1-inch ring cutter to punch out circles of dough. Lay the circles out on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 90°F for 12 hours or on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper in your oven at the lowest setting until completely dry, 8 to 10 hours.
Preheat the deep fat fryer or pot of oil on the stove to 400°F.
Line a sheet pan with paper towels. Fry the tortilla circles for 30 seconds in the oil, until they are puffed and golden brown. Reserve until ready to serve.
AVOCADO PIT:
Preheat a deep fat fryer or pot of oil on the stove to 350°F.
Line a plate with paper towels. Fry the tortilla for 1 minute until golden brown. Transfer to the prepared plate to drain briefly. While still warm, put the chips in the blender with the water and salt. Puree for 1 minute, until smooth. Pour the tortilla puree into 1-inch hemisphere molds and freeze overnight. The next day, twist the hemisphere molds to remove the tortilla pits. Reserve in a covered container in the freezer until ready to serve.
SOUR CREAM DOTS:
Put the sour cream, lime juice, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Transfer to a squeeze bottle with a small tip. Fill an insulated container or dewar with liquid nitrogen and then slowly drip the sour cream into the nitrogen to freeze dots. Strain the dots out of the liquid nitrogen and store in a covered container in the freezer. Alternatively, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and use the squeeze bottle to make little dots of sour cream in rows along the parchment paper. Freeze for at least 3 hours, until frozen solid. Use a bench scraper or spatula to remove the sour cream dots from the parchment paper and reserve in a covered container in the freezer until ready to serve.
RIB EYE:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Season the rib eye with salt and pepper. Put the oil in a medium oven-safe sauté pan set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, sear the rib eye for 3 to 4 minutes on the bottom, flip it over, and transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the steak is medium rare. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes, flipping the meat over every 2 minutes to allow the juices to work their way back to the center of the meat before slicing into 6 pieces.
SALSA:
Combine the tomatoes, jalapeños, onions, garlic, lime juice, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to blend. Taste to double-check the seasoning, and add more salt or lime juice if needed. Reserve at room temperature until ready to serve.
AVOCADO MOUSSE:
Put the avocado flesh in the small bowl of a food processor, add the lime juice, and pulse until smooth. Put the heavy cream in a bowl with the salt and whip with a whisk to medium peaks. Fold the pureed avocado into the whipped cream to create a mousse. Put the mousse in a piping bag and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
TO FINISH:
Take an Avocado Shell and put 20 grams of Salsa in the bottom of the shell. Pipe 40 grams of Avocado Mousse on top of the Salsa and then use an offset spatula to smooth out the mousse. Set an Avocado Pit in the bottom third of the mousse. Put the assembled avocado in a mortar and set the pestle beside it. Repeat 5 times to make a total of 6 half avocados. Put a few Tortilla Crisps topped with a slice of Rib Eye and a few Sour Cream Dots on each side plate and serve immediately to your guests. Let them each mash up their own guacamole and enjoy.
