BREAKFAST SWEETBREADS AND MAPLE SYRUP
Serves 6
One of my favorite ingredients is BLiS maple syrup, which is aged in bourbon barrels. In order to show it off we created little maple logs that we “tap” at the table to serve the maple syrup. They bring to mind the woods where the syrup comes from, so we created a lumberjack breakfast to go along with them. Our take on it includes pan-fried sweetbreads, sourdough pancakes, rich maple syrup, rustic blueberry jam, and creamy egg yolks cooked sous vide. The sweetbreads are crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside—I think they taste a little like Chicken McNuggets, but with an almost liquid center, when prepared correctly. It’s the best breakfast-for-dinner course we’ve come up with so far.
Note: If you don’t regularly make naturally leavened bread, you may need to start this recipe a few days in advance to create a sourdough starter. Find instructions online. It’s easy: The only ingredients are flour, water, and time.
EGG TUBE:
200 grams (about 12 large) egg yolks
5 grams fresh lemon juice
0.5 gram salt
BLUEBERRY JAM:
500 grams blueberries
200 grams sugar
12 grams pectin, such as Sure-Jell
5 grams malic acid (see Sources, here)
SWEETBREADS:
200 grams beef sweetbreads
500 grams whole milk
3.5 grams salt
All-purpose flour for dredging
10 grams canola oil
SOURDOUGH PANCAKES:
75 grams all-purpose flour
10 grams sugar
2 grams baking powder
2 grams baking soda
1 gram salt
100 grams buttermilk
75 grams sourdough starter (see Note)
27 grams eggs
TO FINISH:
18 chervil sprigs
60 grams BLiS maple syrup (see Sources, here)
Special Equipment
Sous vide circulator
Vacuum sealer
1-inch diameter poly tubing
Butcher’s twine
Food milll
EGG TUBE:
Preheat a circulating water bath to 150°F.
Put the egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt in a tall, narrow container and use an immersion blender or whisk to combine until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a squeeze bottle and fill a 5-by-1-inch piece of poly tubing with the mixture. Use butcher’s twine to securely tie off the ends. Cook in the water bath for 1 hour.
Prepare an ice bath. Transfer the cooked egg yolks to the ice bath to cool completely. Once the yolk logs have chilled and firmed up, remove the poly tubing and slice the logs into ¼-inch rounds. You will need 18 nice slices for serving.
BLUEBERRY JAM:
Put the blueberries in a food mill fitted with the smallest blade and pass the berries into a bowl. Put the blueberry juice, sugar, and pectin into a medium saucepot set over medium heat. Whisk to combine and dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 1 hour or until the jam has thickened and reduced by half. Remove from the heat and transfer to a stainless-steel bowl set in an ice bath to cool. Keep in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to plate.
SWEETBREADS:
Put the sweetbreads in a quart container. Whisk the milk and salt together in a bowl to dissolve the salt and then pour it over the sweetbreads to cover. Put a lid on the container and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
Preheat a circulating water bath to 150°F.
Take the sweetbreads out of the container and discard the milk. Rinse the sweetbreads under cold, running water and then seal them in a vacuum bag. Cook in the circulating water bath for 1 hour. Remove from the water bath, transfer the bag to a plate, and let the sweetbreads cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
Take the sweetbreads from the bag. Peel off and discard the membrane. Portion the sweetbreads into 6 equal pieces. Keep the peeled sweetbreads in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to plate.
Put a little flour in a bowl and toss the sweetbreads to coat them evenly with the flour. Line a plate with paper towels. Put the oil in a medium sauté pan set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, sear the sweetbreads for 1 minute on each side until golden brown and crisp. Transfer to the prepared plate to remove any oil and keep warm.
SOURDOUGH PANCAKES:
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Put the buttermilk, sourdough starter, and egg in another bowl and whisk to blend. Pour the sourdough mixture into the flour mixture and whisk to combine. Transfer the batter to a squeeze bottle.
When you’re ready to serve, set a large sauté pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, pipe out pancakes about the size of a quarter. You will need 18 pancakes total. Cook for 1 minute, until golden brown, on each side. Keep warm until ready to plate.
TO FINISH:
Put 1 portion of Sweetbreads on each plate, followed by 3 small Sourdough Pancakes and 3 slices of egg yolk. Add a small spoonful of Blueberry Jam. Repeat this order 5 times and garnish each plate with 3 sprigs of chervil. Place 10 grams of maple syrup into 6 small serving logs and set 1 next to each plate. Allow each guest to dispense as much maple syrup as they want on top.
