Chef at Home

Isomalt is one of those ingredients that has been around
long enough for everyone to be familiar with the name and still not necessarily
know what exactly they are dealing with. It’s gone mainstream with the advent
of Ace of Cakes and the Cake Boss. If you watch either of these shows you can't help but be
familiar with the terms “dirty ice the cake” and “I used isomalt for…” We were starting to get more questions about isomalt and we knew it was time for us to take a
closer look at what we were working with.

Isomalt is a sugar alcohol. Contrary to what you may think,
a sugar alcohol does not contain alcohol, its structure simply has many of the
chemical attributes of both sugar and alcohol. Isomalt is derived from beet
sugar. The sucrose is treated with an enzyme to become isomaltulose. Then it is
hydrogenated and converted into two different disaccharide
alcohols: gluco-mannitol and gluco-sorbitol. The chemical changes make the
isomalt more stable than sucrose. It is approximately half as sweet as sugar with
a very low level of hygroscopicity, meaning that it doesn’t absorb water in the
same way that sugar does.

Isomalt is commonly used as a sugar replacement. It can be
substituted at a 1:1 ratio with sucrose although the isomalt recipe will be
less sweet than the original. It is often combined with sucralose or other
intense sweeteners and provides the bulk and texture of sugar while
simultaneously masking any bitterness from the other sweetener. Isomalt is
resistant to acid and enzyme hydrolysis. It has good solubility and melts at
temperatures from 140-150°C. Isomalt has good flavor release, dissolves slowly, and
holds color well. It is often used in baked goods, sugar free jams and jellies
and candy making. Isomalt is also popular for sugar art; it is often used to
make display pieces, candy jewels and cake decorations.

According to the manufacturer there are four types of
isomalt. Isomalt ST, which is their all purpose product, used at a 1:1 ratio
with sugar and considered especially good for baked goods and hard candies.
Isomalt GS is designed for use in coatings and other applications requiring
solubility in the finished product. It is used for chewy candies and other soft
sweetened products. Recipes made with GS have a good spreading texture with
little syneresis or browning. 
Isomalt LM is designed to work with chocolate to preserve the products
melting properties and the snap and texture of tempered chocolate. The fourth
product is isomalt DC designed for use in compressed products like vitamins and
flavor tablets, which is more of an industrial application than a culinary one.
Interestingly most purveyors simply sell isomalt without specifying the type.
Isomalt ST seems to be the one most readily available.

Isomalt is popular because it has a very low calorie value,
only 2 per gram.  It is not easily
digested and passes through the intestines like dietary fiber. For this reason
it can cause some gastric upset, much the same way that beans or other high
fiber foods can inspire gas, bloating, and diarrhea. Studies have shown that if isomalt is
consumed on a regular basis a tolerance can be built up in the system. Generally speaking it is recommended that people keep consumption to a minimum and do not overindulge until they know how well their systems handle isomalt and any other sugar alcohols.

Isomalt is
low on the glycemic index making it a good sugar substitute for people with
type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  In general sugar alcohols convert to glucose more slowly than sugars, don't cause sudden increases in blood sugar when consumed, and require minimal amounts of insulin to be metabolized by the body.

Isomalt
does not promote cavities because plaque bacteria do not break it down into
acids in the mouth. It encourages the release of salivia in the mouth, which reduces acid levels in the mouth and increases the presence of calcium on the surface of teeth.

To be sure isomalt does not behave exactly like sugar. No substitute can be expected to have all the same properties as the original. In fact the reduced sweetness is a major selling point for chefs because sometimes desserts can be too sweet when you add the amount of sugar needed to provide moisture and body to a specific application. The most common application is to use isomalt to make croquants, either on its own or in combination with other sweeteners. It's reduced sweetness allow chefs to make savory croquants in flavors that were not possible in the past. A quick google search will yield countless recipes from chefs around the world. Isomalt is a versatile ingredient definitely worth exploring.

Ginger is one of those ingredients that occasionally inspire
actual cravings. It is floral and fragrant with a subtle heat that warms a body
from the inside out. It is a rhizome, which is an underground stem that is
capable of producing both the shoot and the root system of new plants. Fresh
ginger can be beautiful with its silky texture and gnarly appearance. Good
ginger is heavy for it’s size, indicating a high level of moisture and
knobby-looking with a satiny mauve skin. It can be purchased in many different
forms but the two most common are pieces of the fresh root and small jars of
dried, ground ginger.

It is well known as an herbal remedy for nausea and upset
stomach. Ginger ale and saltines are a standard remedy the world over for sick
and queasy patients. Ginger candies can be very helpful during bouts of morning and
motion sickness. For aches and pains my mother always recommends tying slices
of fresh ginger in cheesecloth and submerging the package in your bathwater at home. A
hot soak yields clear sinuses and loosened muscles. Pickled ginger is served
with sushi for its antimicrobial and digestive powers in order to help
counteract any ill effects that may occur from the raw seafood. For all its
homespun magic, studies show that ginger can inhibit blood clotting in cancer
patients. It’s potency and efficacy should not be underestimated by anyone with
a compromised immune system.

In the wintertime when the weather is raw and damp, ginger
root calls to me, begging for a place on the table.  Alex made his gingerbread sauce and I went with something
sweet. Fresh ginger biscotti with chunks of milk chocolate.  These cookies are delicious and
surprisingly addictive. Even if you manage to control the impulse to eat more
than one at a time, the beauty of biscotti is their keeping qualities. A large
batch will live happily in a cookie jar on the countertop for as long as you
are able to keep them around. These cookies crumble nicely, making them baby
friendly unless you can't stand the sight of crumbs. Of course if that’s truly
the case these cookies won't be to your liking anyway. You’ll just have to find
some other ginger recipe to play with…

Fresh Ginger and Milk
Chocolate Biscotti

230 grams/8 ounces cold sweet butter

35grams/ 1 ounce peeled and sliced fresh ginger root

100 grams/1/2 cup sugar

100 grams/ ½ cup light brown sugar

100 grams/1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4 large cold eggs

510 grams/18 ounces AP flour

11/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams/4 ¼ ounces AP flour

230 grams/8 ounces milk chocolate chunks (Valrhona Tanariva
Lactee Callets)

Combine butter, ginger and sugars in the bowl of a food
processor. Pulse until the mixture is fully blended and looks like wet sand.
There should be no visible chunks of ginger let. Add the eggs one at a time,
pulsing to blend in each egg before adding the next. Whisk together the flour,
salt, cinnamon and baking powder until well blended. Add all of the flour
mixture to the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together.

Sprinkle the counter with the remaining 120g of flour and
turn the dough out onto the flour. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chocolate onto the dough
and use a bench scraper to fold the dough around the chocolate. Add the next
third and fold it into the dough. Add the final third and fold it until the
dough is smooth and the chocolate is incorporated. Divide the dough in half.
Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 325°F convection. Line two half
sheet trays with parchment or foil.

Divide the first piece of dough in half and gently roll it
out into a log approximately 10”x2” and place it on one of the prepared sheet
trays. Do the same with the remaining half of the dough and place it on the
other side of the sheet tray, leaving equal amounts of space between the two
logs and from each side of the sheet tray. Do the same thing with the second
piece of dough. Bake the logs for 23-28 minutes until the log are golden brown
and cooked through. Slice each log on an angle into 1-inch thick pieces. Set
the end pieces aside for snacks. Lay the slices out on the sheet trays and
return them to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the slices are
golden brown and dry to the touch. Let the cookies cool on the sheet trays
before serving.

a small, rounded or cone-shaped mass of chopped, cooked meat, fish, or
vegetables, coated with egg and crumbs and fried in deep fat

Growing up both my aunt and my mother were fond of croquettes. My mother's version was a mixture of meat and potatoes, coated with panko bread crumbs and served with a dark, tangy, slightly sweet sauce usually eaten out in a casual Japanese restaurant. My aunt's version was also a mixture of meat and potatoes, dredged in bread crumbs and fried, served with a choice of two vegetables at an Amish restaurant off the PA turnpike that we frequented on the trip back home from Pittsburgh after a holiday pilgramage. Two very different cultural experiences that emphasized the same basic type if dish.

The other day Alex was muttering about corned beef hash made with salt roasted yukon gold potatoes. Today he was happily making…croquettes. (Don't tell him I said that.) Okay these looked like tater tots and were stuffed with an incredibly delicious corned beef hash. Still it was a variation on a very popular theme. It's kind of a beautiful thing. No matter where you come from or what you love to eat, chances are someone has made it into a croquette. It's the perfect balance of textures and flavors (when done well) and no matter how many people tell us it's unhealthy we all secretly or openly love our fried foods. They say that nothing fried can taste bad, and I can tell you that's absolutey untrue. At the other end of the spectrum though, something fried well can be something to remember for years.