19 January 2010

Pistachio Glass



I recently made another version of panna cotta. This time it was yogurt based, and I swirled it with caramel pudding- like whoa. As a garnish I made a pistachio brittle of sorts. Not the kind that is like a toffee style brittle with butter and corn syrup, but more of a glass candy style. It was absurdly simple and made a beautiful garnish.

Pistachio Glass
adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup unsalted pistachios
1/2 teaspoon salt

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray or grease with a bit of vegetable oil. Combine sugar, salt and water in a sauce pan and turn the heat up to medium high. Do not stir the sugar while it comes to a boil, and allow it to turn a deep amber color (12 minutes or so). It transitions to amber quickly- make sure you are keeping a close eye on it so it does not burn. You do want to let it go as long and dark as you can stand though, because the flavor base comes from the caramelization of the sugar. When it gets to the perfect deep gold, pull the pan off the heat and stir in the nuts quickly. Immediately pour the mixture onto the pan and spread the edges out by pulling them with the tip of a knife. Allow to cool completely before breaking it into pieces. I sprinkled it with salt one last time for the thrill of it.

3 comments:

g.animalz said...

what kind of sugar did you use? could you use shugz in the raw?

Jenny said...

Probz. Might add a little extra pizazz or it might RUIN IT.

g.animalz said...

thats what she said.