The Dish: Smoked salmon profiteroles from Harper's Garden in Philadelphia's Center City
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- For this week's edition of The Dish, we're about to make you the MVP of your next brunch.
With this recipe, that takes just 30 minutes or less, your guests will swear you flew these pastries in from Paris.
We're talking about smoked salmon profiteroles at Harper's Garden in Center City.
It's easy, I promise!
Even Action News' Alicia Vitarelli was able to pull off these fancy little Frenchy and brunchy savory treats.
Michael Kanter is the executive chef at Harper's Garden, an indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar that's cleverly tucked away in a little oasis on 18th Street, between Market and Chestnut.
"We are local forward," Kanter says. "Whenever we can use a local provider, that's our goal. Local is first."
For our dish, let's first get up to speed on profiteroles.
"These are little pastries that we cook in the pan and then we bake them," Kanter says. "It's called a choux pastry."
The name is more complicated than the recipe.
It starts with four basic ingredients: water, butter, sugar and salt.
Cook it on high, until it boils.
Then, add flour and mix it well.
"Lower the heat a little bit, and then you switch to a wooden spoon," Kanter explains. "You want to make sure you break up all the lumps.
"Make sure you chase them all down, get rid of all the lumps. Then, you just want to keep stirring it until the dough all comes together. Take it off the heat and, one egg at a time, mix it in. Stir in each egg until it's completely mixed in," Kanter added.
From there, pour it all into a pastry bag (or cut the corner of a sandwich bag) and start piping.
On a baking sheet, make a little swirly circle for each one.
Then, pop the tray in the oven and bake until they are nice and crispy.
Now, we make the filling. It's super quick and starts with smoked salmon that has been chopped. Add some sour cream, and chives or scallion, and mix.
"You can put this on crackers, you can put it on toast," Kanter explains. "It's a wonderful little dip."
We slice our profiteroles in half and fill the middle, like little sandwiches.
Then, brunch is served!
This is one of the dishes on the menu at Harper's Garden.
"Harper's Garden is such a wonderful place to come because you're here and you can eat outside and not see cars," says owner Avram Hornik.
"The idea is to bring the city and the nature into the space."
It's just one of more than a dozen spots in Hornik's FCM Hospitality collection.
"Between the seasonal stuff and the mobile stuff and pop up stuff, we have 14 locations," he says. "It's a little bit insane."
"We have Rosy's Taco Bar, which is at 23rd and Walnut streets. We have Lucy's Sports Bar, which just opened last year," he explains. "We have Concourse Dance Bar, which is a nightclub we just renovated and reopened."
And then there's Walnut Garden, in the heart of Rittenhouse. It's now serving outdoor food and drinks at full speed after a few bumps in the road.
"There was a little misunderstanding with the city in terms of what was allowed and what wasn't allowed for pop-up restaurants," Hornik explains.
Keeping that open space in the city is part of Hornik's passion and his vision.
"Walnut Garden was an empty lot, it was a hole in the ground," he says, explaining how he didn't want to see it turned into another parking lot or garage in Center City.
Parks on Tap is also part of his dream.
"I had this idea of putting a beer garden in a public park, and then moving it every week to a different park in the city," he says of the successful, seasonal program.
For the holidays, Harper's Garden turns outdoor greenhouses into private party spaces.
"We like to say that we're kind of in the business of creating social spaces," he explains.
Smoked Salmon Profiteroles Recipe
Choux Pastry
1 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
A teaspoon of kosher salt
4 ounces all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Method
In a stainless-steel sauce pot add the water, butter, sugar and salt and bring to a rolling boil over high heat until the butter has melted.
Remove from the heat and add the flour. Using a wooden spoon mix the flour in thoroughly, making sure to that no lumps remain.
Place the pot back over a medium flame. Stir frequently util the mixture pulls together in cohesive mass.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. In the pot or in a stand mixer stir in one egg at a time making sure to fully incorporate each one before adding the next.
Place the dough in a pastry bag and form your profiteroles (height and width and shape are completely up to the desire of the chef).
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Lower the temperature to 350 and bake approximately 10 more minutes.
Smoked Salmon Rillette
1 cup smoked salmon chopped fine
1 cup sour cream
cup chopped chives or scallions
Method
Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
