Miami Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes and cocktails from our time on the ground in Miami.
A MISO MATTER
While recipe-developing for their pop-up, E&P DMPLNGS, Evan Burgess and Pedro Mederos were inspired by Jeremy Umansky’s and Rising Stars alum Rich Shih’s Koji Alchemy, so they transformed their kitchen into a makeshift science lab. Mederos and Burgess made black sesame miso by fermenting a ball of koji, sesame, and salty water in a crock for three to four months. Originally intending to create a miso glaze for a black cod dish, the realized the umami miso paste would balance out the sweetness of an ice cream. After much custard trial and error with the guide of Mederos’ pastry chef fiancée, Katherine Randolph, the result was a nutty black ice cream. They topped it with more fermented goodies: coffee shoyu and a sprinkle of dehydrated coffee lees.
Full Recipe: Black Sesame Miso Ice Cream
ON THE BALL
Every Dish has a story at Finka Table & Tap — most of them retellings of Chef-owner Eileen Andrade’s family history. Her parent are restaurateurs, and her brother provides the vroquetas from his factory. So when one of the Finka prep cooks accidentally over-cooked risotto, arancini came to Andrade’s mind, but she tapped into her Latin Roots to create arroz con pollo fritters. Spicy, creamy, crunchy, and an ideal bar snack, the fritters capture the essence of arroz con pollo, a homey, filling staple of Latin America, using arborio rice, chicken, red and green peppers, beer, mozzarella, ají carretillero, and ají amarillo mayo. “This represents me because it was my favorite food growing up,” Andrade says. “I don’t want to call this elevated Cuban food; I just gave it my own version without destroying it.”
IT’S BRISKET B*TCH
At Flour & Weirdoughs, the only things finer than the pop culture references are the freshly milled organic grains. Bakers Renata Ferraro and Carlos Flores serve bread and viennoiserie in Key Biscayne, having assembled their own stone-ground flour mill for the freshest possible product. They take no shortcuts, and the proof is in, well, the proof. It’s Brisket B*tch is no exception. This 72-hour, croissant-Danish hybrid dough gets laminated and blanketed with Canadian-style brisket, a smothering of whole grain mustard, and gooey, nutty provolone. Ferraro explains, “People kept asking for the ham and cheese croissant over and over and over, so finally, we were like, no, It’s Brisket B*tch
CHEESE COURSE
When Navè Pastry Chef Devin Braddock took some time off and the menu needed a new dessert, Chef Justin Flit tried out his long-held interest in pastry. Collaborating with Sous Ched Mario Alegre, Flit developed a butternut squash sformato on the dinner menu, which, in turn, led to the birth of the parmesan sformato. Without being too sweet, the light dessert doubles as a cheese course. “It doesn’t really make you feel like you want to go to bed after,” Flit says. Leftover parmesan rinds get boiled in heavy cream and flavor a creamy sformato paired with tangy lemon curd and a luxe white chocolate mousse. The confection is topped with parmesan shavings, delivering an extra touch of umami.
Full Recipe: Parmesan Sformato
