Soil looks delicous to me. Too bad it’s not edible.
My goal is to create a dish in which I can translate the delicous quality of soil to a tangible taste. Pumpernickel seems to be a great match. It’s a sourdough based bread and when slowly baked for a long time until it’s brown or sometimes totally black is reminiscent of soil. When finely ground it looks like rich top soil – and with the right green vegetable – together resemble soil with sprouting green vegetables growing out of it.
Brussel sprouts are a good handy candidate – they are deep green in color and are available now, in the Winter from December to June.
These little buds are high in vitamin C and have a mild cabbage flavor. I quarter them and blanche them in plenty of boiling, salted water for 1 ½ - 2 minutes and immediately shock them in ice water to stop the cooking process. This way the saturated deep green color is preserved.
To prepare the pumpernickel soil, dice approximatly one inch large cubes of the bread and transfer them to a kitchen processor. Process to fine dust then add aged cubed Gouda, salt, and fresh pepper then process to a fine powder stage. Dutch Gouda aged for at least four years is flaky, salty and crunchy at the same time and has a deep caramel color. It is smooth on the tongue and bursts with flavor – it’s a perfect ingredient for this dish.
Brussel sprouts are often combined with bits of bacon. This time I wanted to go another direction. I still wanted the dish to have a smoky flavor component without the bacon so I decided to instantly smoke these tiny cabbages (we’ll get to this a little later).
Cooking instructions:
- Sauté the Brussels in vegetable oil on medium heat, season with salt and fresh pepper.
- Preheat medium sized plates – somthing similar you would serve pasta appetizer portions in.
- Spoon a tablespoon of the pumpernickel-Gouda dust in the middle of the plate and put the sprouts on top of it.
- Then, to “instantly” smoke, use a glass or hood-like object and place it over the Brussels sprouts dish and feed smoke with a tube under the glass.
- Serve immediately – lift the lid in front of your dinner guests at the table for a “smoking sensation.”
“Instantly” Smoked Brussel Sprouts with Pumpernickel Soil
Pumpernickel soil
- Pumernickel bread - 8 slices / 240 grams
- Gouda, aged - 3 ounces / 85 grams (aged cheddar may be substitued)
- Salt - to taste
- Fresh pepper - 10 grindings
Brussels sprouts
Specialty equipment: smoking gun
Chef’s tip: Process black truffle under the cheese and pumpernickel mix for an intense, earthy flavor.
Check out www.polyscience.com for the smoking gun.
