BOURBON BITES
Serves 6
When we serve this at Moto, the server lays a 3-foot-long bourbon barrel slat on the table, pulls a flask out of his jacket, and says, “Who wants a shot?”
A sweet caramel corn stock is the basis for a bourbon-infused tea that you can drink straight from the flask or share in shot glasses. A luscious cinnamon egg cream filling is wrapped in a mint leaf. It is served with candied ginger chips and a bourbon gel with a sweet, mild bite. Finally, bourbon-vanilla ice cream is smooth and creamy with a cherry coating to finish off this sweet alcoholic treat.
It’s the end of the meal, and you’ve gone through this whole 14-course experience. The only way that we could possibly top it is to get you completely wasted. We leave the flask on your table. You’re pounding shots in your own bourbon enlightenment… and then you wake up and think, “Wow, I’ve got to pay this bill. Dammit.”
BOURBON GEL:
90 grams bourbon
30 grams fresh lemon juice
50 grams sugar
1.1 grams agar (see Sources, here)
1.1 grams locust bean gum (see Sources, here)
0.5 gram salt
0.25 gram xanthan gum (see Sources, here)
140 grams water
CARAMEL POWDER:
100 grams sugar
25 grams water
CARAMEL CORN STOCK:
250 grams water
200 grams corn stock (see here)
30 grams freeze-dried corn kernels (see Sources, here)
25 grams Caramel Powder
BOURBON TEA:
400 grams Caramel Corn Stock
75 grams freeze-dried corn kernels (see Sources, here)
40 grams maple syrup
1 vanilla bean, split
25 grams barrel-aged tea (see Sources, here)
10 grams bourbon
EGG CREAM FILLING:
70 grams half-and-half
72 grams (4 large) egg yolks
40 grams sugar
2 grams ground cinnamon
2 grams salt
25 grams bourbon
20 grams brown butter
BOURBON-BROWN BUTTER PASTE:
300 grams bourbon
100 grams unsalted butter, diced
60 grams tapioca maltodextrin (see Sources, here)
0.5 gram salt
CANDIED GINGER CHIPS:
100 grams ginger, peeled
1500 grams water, divided
100 grams ginger juice (see Sources, here)
100 grams sugar
BOURBON ICE CREAM:
200 grams heavy cream
200 grams half-and-half
50 grams nonfat dry milk powder
36 grams (2 large) egg yolks
50 grams sugar
20 grams dark brown sugar
2 grams salt
20 grams bourbon
Seeds scraped from 1 split vanilla bean
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
6 bourbon barrel slats
1 flask or 6 shot glasses
Dehydrator (optional)
#20 ice cream scoop
Pacojet (see Sources, here) or ice cream maker
BOURBON GEL:
Combine the bourbon and lemon juice in a small bowl; set aside. Put the sugar, agar, locust bean gum, salt, and xanthan gum in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Put the water in a small saucepot. Add the dry ingredients and use an immersion blender to blend them into the water until smooth. Set over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and let it simmer for 15 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in bourbon–lemon juice mixture. Line a 13-by-9-inch sheet pan or baking dish with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is flush with the bottom and sides of the pan, and spray the surface of the plastic with pan spray. Pour the bourbon mixture into the pan. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow the gel to set.
Use the plastic wrap to lift the gel out of the pan and set it on a cutting board. Cut the gel into 5-gram cubes. Reserve in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
CARAMEL POWDER:
Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat. Put the sugar and water in a medium saucepot and stir to combine and dissolve the sugar. Set over medium heat, refrain from stirring to avoid crystallizing the sugar, and bring up to 315°F. Cook until the caramel turns a light golden brown, watching it carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Pour the caramel out onto the prepared sheet pan. Let the sugar harden and cool. Break the caramel into small pieces, put them in a food processor or spice grinder, and grind to a powder. Sift the powder through a strainer to remove any large chunks. Reserve for use in Caramel Corn Stock.
CARAMEL CORN STOCK:
Put the water, corn stock, freeze-dried corn, and Caramel Powder in a large saucepot set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve the liquid.
BOURBON TEA:
Put the Caramel Corn Stock, freeze-dried corn, maple syrup, and split vanilla bean in a medium saucepot set over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and add the tea. Remove from the heat, cover, and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve the infused tea in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the bourbon and pour into 1 flask to share or divide into 6 shot glasses.
EGG CREAM FILLING:
Put the half-and-half, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a deep, microwave-safe pitcher and blend with an immersion blender. Microwave for 1 minute and then blend briefly again with the immersion blender. Repeat blending and microwaving in 1-minute intervals until the custard thickens and reaches 175°F. Add the bourbon and brown butter to the custard and blend until smooth. Chill the custard in an ice bath until completely cool, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
BOURBON-BROWN BUTTER PASTE:
Put the bourbon in a quart container. Put the butter in a small saucepot set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk solids turn golden brown and give off a warm, nutty smell. Pour the brown butter into the bourbon and let it steep for 4 hours at room temperature. Put the lid on the container and put it in the freezer to solidify the butter. Once the butter is solid, about 2 hours, use a fine-mesh strainer to strain it from the bourbon.
Put the butter in a small saucepot set over low heat to melt. Once the butter is completely liquid, put the tapioca maltodextrin and salt in the small bowl of a food processor and turn it on. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Process the mixture to a paste. Reserve the Bourbon–Brown Butter Paste in a covered container at room temperature until ready to serve.
CANDIED GINGER CHIPS:
Use a mandoline to slice the ginger very thin, about ‰ inch thick. Put 500 grams of the water and the ginger in a saucepot set over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Strain the water, put another 500 grams of water with the ginger in the saucepan, and repeat the boiling process two more times to blanch the ginger. Put the ginger juice and sugar in a small saucepot set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the blanched ginger and simmer for 1 hour, until the ginger is tender and candied. Strain the ginger and then lay it out on a dehydrator tray or sheet pan in a single layer. Dehydrate for 12 hours in a dehydrator at 90°F or in your oven at the lowest setting until the ginger is dry to the touch and barely pliable. Keep the Candied Ginger Chips in an airtight container until ready to plate.
BOURBON ICE CREAM:
Put the heavy cream, half-and-half, and nonfat dry milk powder in a large saucepot set over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the milk powder. Remove from the heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, brown sugar, and salt in large bowl; whisk until thick and blended. Gradually whisk the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
Return the ice cream base mixture to the same saucepot. Set over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and comes to 176°F, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon and vanilla bean seeds. Transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate uncovered, stirring occasionally, until chilled, at least 3 hours. Transfer the ice cream base to a Pacojet canister and freeze overnight. Run a full cycle on the Pacojet the following day. Alternatively, freeze the ice cream base in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Use a #20 scoop, which holds 3-1/3 tablespoons of ice cream, to scoop out balls of the Bourbon Ice Cream onto the prepared sheet pan. Put the scooped ice cream back in the freezer until you are ready to roll it in the coating.
ICE CREAM COATING:
Put the freeze-dried cherries and orange zest in a food processor and pulse to make fine crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl. Remove the scooped Bourbon Ice Cream from the freezer and roll each scoop in the crumbs to coat. Return the coated ice cream to the sheet pan and then to the freezer, and reserve the extra crumbs until ready to serve.
TO FINISH:
Use the bourbon barrel slats as plates. Sprinkle a 2-gram pile of Ice Cream Coating crumbs on one end of each slat and then place 1 scoop of coated Bourbon Barrel Ice Cream on top of it. Spread 5 grams of the Egg Cream Filling on each mint leaf and fold it over to create a sandwich; place 1 mint leaf sandwich on each slat. Set 1 Candied Ginger Chip on the slat and add 3 grams of Bourbon–Brown Butter Paste, and top with another Candied Ginger Chip. Place 1 cube of Bourbon Gel on the end of the slat. Use a Microplane to grate lemon zest over the top, and sprinkle with barrel-aged sugar. Serve with the flask of Bourbon Tea or accompany each slat with a shot of Bourbon Tea.
