Within just a few weeks celebrity chefs from near and far will be descending upon the little island that is Palm Beach for the annual Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Starting on December 13, the five-day event will be featuring events from luxurious dinners to chef cook-offs to cooking classes and everything in between.
New to the line-up of events this year is the Kids Kitchen, which just as it sounds is a cooking class for the little ones.
Famed pastry chef and 2012 recipient of the James Beard Rising Star Chef award Christina Tosi chef, owner, and founder of the critically acclaimed Momofuku Milk Bar and Bakery in New York is hosting one of the courses.
See also: Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival Organizer David Sabin on New Chefs, Events, and the Island
As a lead up to the event, we got Tosi to hand over one of her famous recipes for compost cookies.
The name "compost cookies" will make slightly more sense when you read through the interesting ingredient list and discover items like graham cracker pie crust, potato chips, and coffee grounds.
Coffee grounds? Yes, coffee grounds. She's a James Beard Rising Star pastry chef. You can trust her with your taste buds.
Compost Cookies
Makes 15 to 20 cookies
225 grams butter, at room temperature (16 tablespoons or two sticks)
200 grams granulated sugar (one cup)
150 grams light brown sugar (2/3 cup tightly packed)
50 grams glucose (two tablespoons)
One egg
Two grams vanilla extract (½ teaspoon)
225 grams flour (one and 1/3 cups)
Two grams baking powder (½ teaspoon)
1.5 grams baking soda (¼ teaspoon)
Four grams kosher salt (one teaspoon)
150 grams mini chocolate chips (¾ cup)
100 g mini butterscotch chips (½ cup)
¼ recipe graham crust (85 grams or half cup) - see next page for directions
40 grams old-fashioned rolled oats (1⁄3 cup)
Five grams ground coffee (two and ½ teaspoons)
50 grams potato chips (two cups)
50 grams mini pretzels (one cup)
Note: In a pinch, substitute 18 grams (one tablespoon) corn syrup for the glucose. For the "coffee grounds" in this cookie, we tested the recipe with freshly roasted and ground artisanal coffee from Stumptown as well as with crap-tastic coffee grounds that you
can find just about anywhere. We discovered that it doesn't make a difference what kind you use; the cookie is delicious every time. Just make sure you don't use instant coffee; it will dissolve in the baking process and ruin the cookies. And, above all else, never use wet, sogalicious grounds that have already brewed a pot of coffee. We use Cape Cod potato chips because they aren't paper-thin, and so they do not break down too much in the mixing process.
Step One: Combine the butter, sugars, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for two to three minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for seven to eight minutes.
Step Two: Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than one minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk overmixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Step Three: Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats, and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato chips. You deserve a pat on the back if one of your cookies bakes off with a whole pretzel standing up in the center.
Step Four: Using a 2 ¾ ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3 cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined
sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to one week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature-- they will not bake properly.
Step Five: Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Step Six: Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of four inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that's not the case.
Step Seven: Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for five days; in the freezer, they will keep for one month.
Graham Crust
Makes about 340 grams (two cups)
190 grams graham cracker crumbs (one and ½ cups)
20 grams milk powder (¼ cup)
25 grams sugar (two tablespoons)
3 grams kosher salt (¾ teaspoon)
55 grams butter, melted, or as needed (four tablespoons or ½ stick)
55 grams heavy cream (¼ cup)
Step One: Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar, and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients.
Step Two: Whisk the butter and heavy cream together. Add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The butter will act as glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters. The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand. If it is not moist
enough to do so, melt an additional 14 to 25 grams (one to one and ½ tablespoons) butter and mix it in.
Step Three: Eat immediately, or deploy as directed in the compost cookie recipe. The crust is easiest to mold just after mixing. Stored in an airtight container, graham crust will keep fresh for one week at room temperature or for one month in the fridge or freezer.
Christina Tosi will be participating in the Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival's Cloud Nine After Party on Friday, December 13 from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. as well as the Kids Kitchen on Saturday, December 14 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Both events take place at the Four Seasons Palm Beach. Visit pbfoodwinefest.com.
Recipe courtesy Brickhouse PR and Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Follow Sara Ventiera on Twitter, @saraventiera.
Follow @CleanPlateBPB
