It's been a good year for Greg Proechel. The chef at Ferris, which opened in New York City's MADE Hotel in October 2017, has been celebrated by Eater, Grub Street and the Michelin Guide. The New York Times named his côte de boeuf one of its "10 Great New York Dishes of 2018" this month after a rave, two-star review in January. We asked the acclaimed ICE alum to share a holiday recipe and are delighted he chose an indulgent dessert.
This is a dish that incorporates some seasonal ingredients, in this case sweet potato, with flan, which is classic dessert. I think most families have their own flan recipe, and this bumps up the specialness using ingredients you see on many dishes, mostly savory, and utilizing their richness and sweetness to your advantage.
It’s very nice to have a cold dish be so rich and warming because of the spices within. This can be easily served alone, and at Ferris, we serve it with some coconut and black lime zest, which brings out a lot of the unique characters of the sweet potato. We also use Japanese sweet potatoes due to their chocolate-like richness and nuttiness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 lime, juiced
- 396 grams condensed milk
- 354 grams evaporated milk
- 600 grams Japanese sweet potato, steamed and peeled
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 whole eggs
Directions
- To make the caramel, mix the sugar, water and lime in a pot; cook until golden brown; and pour a thin layer into a container that will allow to cool and not melt.
- To make the flan, blend the remaining ingredients in a Vita-Prep until smooth (make sure potatoes are tempered); strain through a chinois; and pour into rectangular molds.
- Bake at 350°F for 23 mins.
- Combine the caramel and flan to serve.
Meet more ICE alumni in New York City and learn more about studying Culinary Arts like Chef Greg.
