Lucky me, I was given Monday off of work because of Columbus Day (seriously! We never even got school off for Columbus Day!), giving me an extra day to slouch around my parent’s house while I took care of my dog and they finished their grand European vacation (they’re in Holland, gorging themselves on pancakes and cheese). After four hours of cartoons and Iron Chef reruns (thanks, Food Network), I got hungry. Since I had access to a kitchen as big as my entire apartment (you think I kid… I do not), a gas stove and a large oven, I decided that it was time for me to attempt a small plate served at Komi that is both delicious and seems to be easy to make: Oven-Roasted Dates stuffeed with Mascarpone Cheese and topped with Fleur De Sel. Seems easy, right? The end product is a soft, sweet date with a creamy filling and an amazing salty bite at the end.
HA! I preheated the oven to 450, and put two test dates on a piece of parchment atop a baking sheet. After pitting both dates with a chopstick (me = genius), I put some mascarpone into a ziploc bag and cut off a corner, giving myself a makeshift pastry bag. Unsure of the proper technique, and unwilling to look something that seemed so simple up on the internets, I piped mascarpone into the hollow center of one date, and left the other empty. Into the oven they went, for 10 minutes. After 10 I pulled them out and poked at them. Unsatisfied with the softness, I gave them another two minutes. Perfect.
The date with the mascarpone already in it was swimming in a little puddle of oil and dairy parts, and I realized all the mascarpone had run out of the hole at the back of the date (the pitfalls of, er, pitting your own dates, I guess). So both of the hot dates got stuffed with mascarpone after they had a minute or two to cool (I had to be able to hold them, y’know?). Smiling at the melting cheese, I topped them both with some Fleur De Sel (thanks Mom!) and popped one into my mouth.
Folks — it wasn’t the same. Clearly, Monis does something to his mascarpone, and I haven’t been in Komi recently enough to truly remember what the cheese’s flavor was like. Even the salty finish wasn’t the same. I dispaired for a moment… and then decided it was alright and that I could eat a couple more. So I made a couple more, but by then the disappointment was too much.
Sigh. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
–Sara
2 Comments
October 10, 2007 at 6:02 pm
My experiences attempting this dish have been equally disappointing, but the salt issue, I think, is best solved by inserting it with your cheese. Do that in two squirts of your pipette: first fill the date halfway, then tip the pipette in salt and fill the rest. That way, as the cheese melts it gets distributed (but, since salt is not soluble in cheese, you keep some crunch).
December 21, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Komi uses a mix of greek yogurt and mascarpone. However, I have gotten these to be as good as Komi’s with just mascarpone. Forget piping the mascarpone in. Slit the date, remove the pit and press the date with your fingers to make a bit more room inside. Fill with mascarpone and chill in the fridge to firm up (very important). 475 oven, be careful not to overcook