Cinnamon Honey Omelette Souffle with Cherimoya Puree, Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon and Ginger Mango Syrup

A different kind of sweet omelette souffle with an exotic flavored bacon!

     Omelette souffle is not difficult to make.  An egg is separated and a medium stiff meringue create the puffy souffle effect.  Omelette souffle can be made sweet or savory.  This is a sweet omelette souffle recipe for breakfast.  The omelette souffle is baked in a non-stick silicone custard cup with no collar.  It looks like a brioche dough dinner roll after it is baked and browned!  The French do bake their breads and many items till they are perfection browned.  This increases flavor, but there is a fine line before a perfect brown color starts to become over cooked.  The baked omelette souffle in the pictures was right on the money!

     Custard apple (cherimoya) tastes like an apple-lime-coconut-exotic fruit custard!  Cherimoya also has the nick name ice cream fruit.  It does have a French creme anglaise custard ice cream flavor.  Cherimoya makes for a nice breakfast fruit puree! 

     The ginger mango syrup was made with dried mango.  Dried mango fruit has a concentrated mango flavor that is perfect in a breakfast syrup.

     The details about the bacon are written below.  It is best to stick with the guidelines on a first attempt at curing bacon.  The 7 day salt cure technique is safe by food handling standards.  

     Salt Cured Bacon Information:

     Home cooks can safely use a refrigerated salt curing method to create new flavors of cured bacon, without worrying about spoilage.  After curing, the bacon can be sliced and frozen or smoked over a low temperature.  Salt cured bacon does have a limited shelf life, so the bacon should be consumed or frozen for later use, within a few days of when the salt curing process is completed.   

     Smoking the salt cured bacon is an option, but it is not required.  Before smoking, the bacon needs to be left uncovered in refrigerated air for 24 hours, so a film of patina forms.  I do not recommend the patina method for home cooks that are new to smoking bacon, because the health department does not approve of that old method.  Just smoke the salt cured bacon after the curing process is complete and smoke the bacon like a regular piece of pork or beef.    

     Dry seasonings, dried ground fruit powders, exotic spice mixes and exotic salts can be used to create tasty custom creative salt cured bacon flavors!  

     Fresh herbs, fresh spices and highly perishable seasoning mixtures should be avoided when curing bacon with food safety in mind.  Many infused oils are actually highly perishable and they should not be used in a curing process.

     Acidic ingredients may cause an unwanted pickling effect.  Orange peel is better for curing than orange juice!

     Soy sauce is an easy curing ingredient, if you like asian flavors.  Fermented processed sauces like soy sauce or hot sauce are okay.  

     Honey is a natural preservative and it can be added to a curing mixture, if you wish to cut back on the amount of sugar.  Raw sugar or brown sugar can also be used.  Maple, pomegranate syrup or agave syrup can be used as a sweetener too.  

     A gravlax curing salt and sugar proportion is also good for curing bacon.  The bacon will never taste salty if the gravlax proportion is used.

     Kosher salt burns meat less than sea salt does.  Sea salt is better for flavoring than it is for curing.  I used a small proportion of Himalayan Black Salt in my mango bacon curing mixture just to add an interesting flavor.  The high sulfur and mineral content of Himalayan salt actually aids in protecting the meat from pathogens.    

     No nitrates or color enhancers are needed for a seven day salt cure, if the bacon is cooked shortly after curing or frozen for later use.  Salt is the oldest of all preservatives known to mankind, but it does have its limits, so make use of the bacon shortly after it is cured! 

     The cured bacon can be thin sliced like store bought bacon.  A slab of bacon can be roasted whole and then sliced.  Thick bite size pieces can be cut, then grill, boiled or roasted.  

     

     Pork Belly:

     Choose a good fresh clean piece of pork belly!  Salt curing will not save meat that is already going bad!  That is a mistake that some people make.

     It is not necessary to cure a whole side of pork belly when making bacon.  I only cured a 5" wide slab of pork belly that weighed about 1 1/3 pounds.  Butchers will cut pork belly to any requested size.  The pork belly skin must be removed before curing.  

     The cure will only saturate the slab of pork belly from the outside in.  An ice pick, skewer or thin boning knife can be used to poke several tiny holes toward the center of a pork belly slab, so the salt cure mixture can saturate the middle of the slab and not just the outer edges.

     A large zip lock plastic bag is best for containing the curing mixture after it liquifies.  It is best to put the plastic bag inside of another container, in case the plastic bag leaks.

     For a first attempt at creating a custom flavored cure, go small.  Use a section of skinned pork belly that weighs 1 to 2 pounds.  A 5" wide slab of skinned pork belly is good for this recipe.

     Mango Chat Masala Cured Pork Belly Bacon:

     Himalayan black salt is not really black in color.  It looks milky pink or milky orange colored.  It is used in North Indian, Sri Lanka and Nepalese cuisine.  Himalayan salt can be found at Indian markets.

     Chat Masala is Indian 14 spice mix and it is used to flavor many desserts.  Chat masala contains cardamom, ginger, mango powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, peppercorn and a few other warm dessert spices that are perfect for a bacon flavor.  Ground dried mango powder and chat masala can be found in Indian markets.

     Mix 2 parts sugar with 1 part Kosher salt.  Mix about 1 1/2 cups for a 5" wide slab of pork belly.  Any curing mixture that is leftover can be saved for later use.

     Place the pork belly on a small roasting pan, to catch the excess curing ingredients that fall off.

     Thoroughly coat the entire small slab of pork belly with the salt and sugar curing mixture.  

     Note:  For the flavorings, just season like you would a regular piece of meat!  A large amount of spice is not necessary, because the meat will be in contact with the flavored cure for seven days.

     Season the small pork belly slab with a few generous pinches of Himalayan black salt. 

     Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of powdered dried mango evenly over the pork belly.

     Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of chat masala over the pork belly.

     Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper over the pork belly.

     No black pepper or white pepper is needed!  Both of those peppers are part of the chat masala spice mixture.

     Place the seasoned, salted and sugared small pork belly slab into a large zip lock bag.

     Scrape the seasoning and salt that fell off of the pork belly into the catch pan together and place it into the zip lock bag with the pork belly.  

     Add 1 extra tablespoon of Kosher salt to the bag to ensure a healthy salt curing level.

     Press the excess air out of the zip lock bag and seal the bag.

     Place the bag into a container, in case it leaks.

     Write the curing start time and date and finish time and date down and keep it in plain sight.

     Once every 12 hours, pick the bag up and shake it, so the brine evenly coats the meat.  Flip the meat, so the same side is not always facing down.

     The outer pork meat should darken to a beef like color after 4 to 5 days of curing.  

     Open the bag once a day and check the aroma.  There should be no hint of decay or contamination in the odor.  If the meat becomes badly discolored or if there is a foul odor, then discard the meat.

     By 7 days you should have a nicely cured piece of pork belly.

     Remove the pork belly from the bag and pat it dry with a clean dry towel.

     Cut 2 to 3 thin slices of bacon for this recipe

     Consume the freshly cured bacon within a few days or portion the remaining bacon and freeze it for later use.

     Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon:

     Heat a saute pan or griddle over medium/medium low heat.

     Place 2 to 3 thin slices of the Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon in the pan.

     Grill the bacon on both sides, till it becomes crisp, lightly browned and fully cooked.

     Place the bacon strips on a roasting screen on a pan to drain of the excess grease.

     Ginger Mango Syrup:

     Cut 1 thin slice of dried mango into thin strips.

     Place the mango strips in a small sauce pot.

     Add 1/3 cup of sugar.

     Add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste.

     Add 1 small pinch of allspice.

     Add 2 cups of water.

     Place the pot over medium low heat.

     Simmer and reduce, till the mango strips reconstitute and till the liquid reduces to a thin syrup consistency.

     Keep the ginger mango syrup warm over very low heat.

     Cherimoya Puree:

     Cut a cherimoya in half.

     Use a spoon to scoop the fruit and seeds into a bowl.  Discard the skin.

     Remove all of the dark black seeds.

     Puree the fruit with an electric mixing wand, a food processor or by pressing the fruit through a fine mesh strainer.

     Set the cherimoya fruit puree aside.   

     

     Cinnamon Honey Omelette Souffle:

     Separate the yolk and white of 1 egg into two separate mixing bowls.

     Add 1/2 tablespoon of honey to the egg yolk.

     Add 1 pinch of cinnamon to the egg yolk.

     Whisk the ingredients together.

     Whisk the egg whit in the other bowl, till medium stiff peaks are formed.

     Gentle fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white meringue.

     Very lightly brush a non-stick silicon custard cup mold with melted unsalted butter.

     Place the custard cup in a roasting pan.

     Fill the custard cup with the cinnamon honey omelette souffle mixture.

     Add water to the roasting pan, so the water is 1/2" deep, to create a bain marie.

     Bake in a 400 degree oven, till the omelette souffle completely puffs up and till the omelette souffle turns a light brown color.

     Cinnamon Honey Omelette Souffle with Cherimoya Puree, Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon and Ginger Mango Syrup:

     Place the cherimoya puree on the center of a plate as a bed for the bacon and omelette souffle.

     Place the warm crisp strips of mango chat masala bacon on top of the middle of the cherimoya puree.

     Invert the cinnamon honey omelette souffle into one hand that is covered with a dry clean towel and remove the non-stick silicone custard cup mold.

     Place the omelette souffle right side up on top of the bacon.

     Very lightly dust the plate with 1 small pinch of cinnamon.

     Use tongs to place the mango strips from the syrup on top of the cinnamon honey omelette souffle.

     Spoon a generous amount of the ginger mango syrup over the omelette souffle. 

     Viola!  A breakfast flavor combination that has never been made before.  The flavor is awesome and this breakfast entree is a must to try!  Bon appetite!  ...  Shawna