As I was sitting in immunology (I think this class is much better for my culinary tangents than actual learning,) flavors tiptoed into my head. Antibodies morphed into sesame seeds. B-cell development whispered of crystalline ginger. Orange zest seduced my senses long before class got to VDJ recombination. Honestly, I will fail this class.
Yet, it was a cookie: a daring fusion of Asian and butter. It would command the senses, stimulate the palate, and save old ladies from being hit by buses. Crunch, zing, and sweetness in one fattening bite. I pulled out a legal pad, and started designing.
A candy-like cookie that could be cooled into cup-like shapes, filled with a ginger-chocolate ganache, garnished with candied orange zest and ginger. I only had to wait for the week to end.
That day of cooking research went much like normal research: death. Two main problems: don't make anything relating to candy without proper equipment. Thus, a buttered and floured cookie sheet will NOT substitute a silicone mat. The cookie came out as a lacy, sticky disaster that bubbled into the pan and wouldn't come off. Instead of a cup that could hold something, I got a delicate coral-esque garnishe that I had to pry off the pan with the finesse of a bulldozer lifting a concrete foundation. The kitchen radiated a miasma of a sugared Asia and bad cooking aura. The cookies, once cooled, were cute and would not hold anything.
How does this parallel my research. Ah. My enzyme assay result proved exciting at first. It suggested that our interesting hypothesis might hold true. Wait, something actually worked? Elation. That is, until the following week where I managed to destroy everything I touched. In a procedure where sample wells must be free of air bubbles, I made one sample look like Mr. Bubble assaulted the NIH. I forgot to save results. I saved results and realized they sucked. I redu the unsaved experiment, and realize the results sucked. This is why they call it "research" and not "shit we figured out that lives in this test tube".
So, I was left with a delicious chocolate ganache (mixture of cream and chocolate used to make fondue, truffles, etc.) that had a spicy ginger finish, candied ginger, a zested orange, and black roasted sesame seeds. I refused to declare defeat. Yet there was no way in hell I was baking anything else that night.
What else does a girl do? Make the most pretentious ice cream sundae at home, naturally. Vanilla ice cream provides the perfect backdrop for a spicy bite and citrus finish. I didn't even have to candy the orange zest, which was nice. It was sexy in a bowl. My roommates approved. They should: something like this would cost a bunch on a restaurant menu.
[Insert pretentious name here]/ Sexy Asian Sundae
Candied Ginger and syrup:
2 in ginger root, sliced as thinly as possible. Don't slice off fingers, they probably taste terrible.
Water
Sugar
Chocolate Sauce:
1:1 ratio chocolate chips to cream.
Ginger syrup (I used 1 T for about 1 c sauce)
Sundae:
Vanilla icecream (breyer's natural vanilla!)
Black roasted sesame seeds
Zest from 1/2 orange
Candied ginger
To candy ginger:
put ginger in a small saucepot, cover with water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer 15 min, then strain out water. Cover again with water and add sugar. (Try to have an equal ginger:sugar ratio by weight. I guessed.) Bring to a simmer and let simmer for at least 30 min. If water boils too low, add more.
Remove ginger and let syrup reduce down a few min more. Let ginger drain and dry over a baking rack for at least an hour (I put it on tin foil... but I imagine a rack would be better.) Tos with granulated sugar.
Chocolate sauce: the lazy man's ganache:
Heat cream in microwave in 1 min increments until simmering. Pour over chocolate, let stand 2 min. Stir until smooth and shiny. Add in syrup to taste.
Assemble:
Scoop ice cream into a sexy bowl. Not a normal one. Chic will do
Sprinkle sesame seeds
Sprinkle orange zest
Drizzle chocolate ginger sauce
Garnish with candied ginger
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