Chocolate Sabayon With Sea Salt and Olive Oil, and Homemade Nutter Butters

Last fall, our friends Drew and Ralph spent a weekend in Chicago. Drew and Ralph are both big-time foodies, and they asked us for any food recommendations in the Windy City. We had a few (Ann Sather, Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill). 

And we knew the perfect person to ask for more ideas: one of our readers, Rina. She'd sent us numerous great recipe ideas before, and we knew she was really plugged in to the Chicago food scene. Rina was happy (we hope!) to oblige, and she sent a terrific list of good restaurants for Drew and Ralph to try.

At the top of Rina's picks? The Bristol, a new gastropub in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. Rina raved about its creativity and constantly changing menu. And when Drew and Ralph went there for brunch, they fell in love with the place.

All that brings us to this: When Zach was in Chicago for work a couple weeks ago, he knew he had to make time for dinner at the Bristol.

Dinner was outstanding: An appetizer of charred spring onions tossed with crispy goat belly, topped with a light mustard cream sauce. The entree was a crisp-skinned sea trout on a bed of fava beans and flageolets. Perfection!

But then it was time for dessert.

The server came over to tell Zach the three dessert options that evening. "First," she said, "we have a chocolate sabayon, sprinkled with a little sea salt and drizzled with olive oil, and that's served with a couple house-made Nutter Butter cookies. Second, we have--"

"I'm sorry," Zach interrupted. "I'm going to stop you there. There is absolutely no need for you to continue. I have to order that."

After eating the dessert and blacking out for a while over how good it was, Zach came to. And he had a singular mission: recreating this dessert at home.

As impressive -- and, perhaps, daunting -- as this dish appears, it's actually not all that complicated. There are really just four steps: make the cookies, make the cookie filling, assemble the cookies and make the sabayon.

If you're not familiar with a sabayon, it's a light, eggy custard (in Italy, it's called "zabaglione"). Making it is child's play. Throw everything (except, in this case, the chocolate pieces) into a bowl, set the bowl over some simmering water, and whisk until it's thick. Then stir in the chocolate until it melts. That's it!

The cookies are a little more time consuming, but they're still just a basic cookie recipe (a standing mixer works wonders here).  Just make the cookies, bake them, cool them on a rack. Make the filling and, once the cookies are cool, slather the filling between the cookies. Voila!

(If you want to get a little fancy, you can cut the cookies into rectangles after you've assembled them with the filling. It makes them easier to dip into the sabayon, which is unquestionably required for this dish.)

The Bristol's twist on a classic sabayon is brilliant: Topping it with a little sea salt and olive oil gives the sabayon a savory element that plays off so nicely against the chocolatey custard. The sweet and salty flavors come together in a way that's completely magical.

One note on the salt: It's a nice idea in this case to actually get some flaky sea salt or fleur de sel. Because those salts are flakier and thinner, they dissolve into the sabayon. Table salt or Kosher salt wouldn't blend as well.

And the Nutter Butters. Oh, the Nutter Butters. We found a recipe from the New York Times that's an adaptation of the Nutter Butters served at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery.

They are heaven. The oats and peanuts make for an amazing cookie, and the sweet peanut-buttery filling is simple and delicious. If you have fond memories of eating Nutter Butters as a kid, these will bring your childhood flooding back (although we think they're even better than the originals).

And again, let's face it: You're going to end up dunking the Nutter Butters in the sabayon. And when you do, get ready. You may pass out. All the oaty, peanuty, chocolatey, sweet and salty flavors come together in this burst of delicious that may short-circuit your brain.

So, fair warning: Enjoy this dessert, but make sure you're sitting down.

Chocolate Sabayon with Sea Salt and an Olive Oil Drizzle
Adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons dry Sherry
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• Sea salt or fleur de sel
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium metal bowl to blend. Set over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water). Using handheld electric mixer, beat mixture until thick and thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160°F, about 4 minutes. Remove from over water. Add chocolate; whisk until melted (mixture will deflate). Cool.

Spoon cooled sabayon into small dishes or glasses. Depending on the size of your dishes, this recipe will make enough sabayon for about 4 desserts.

Over each dish of sabyon, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with homemade Nutter Butter cookies (below).

Bouchon Bakery's "Nutter Butters"
New York Times

Time: 45 minutes plus cooling

For the cookie dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
• 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

For the filling:

• 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
• 1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1. For cookie dough: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping down bowl twice.

2. At low speed, add eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well mixed, frequently scraping down bowl. Add peanuts and oats, and mix well. Using an ice cream scoop 2 inches in diameter, place balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets at least three inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and turned very light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool and firm up, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before filling.

3. For filling: using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar until very smooth.

4. To assemble cookies, spread a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) on underside of a cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat.

Yield: 24 large cookies.