Originally was going to serve this recipe with homemade ricotta and whey, specifically using the whey in the crystal bread, but I opted out of doing that, mostly because even the classic pan con tomate doesn’t use ricotta cheese, so this recipe should not either. There are times when cooks, myself included, can get a little trigger-happy with components or techniques, but it is okay to strip back on certain ingredients if it muddles the vision of the dish. In this case, it should be all about the crystal pan and the tomatoes, so anything that is neither of those should just be omitted. To paraphrase a queen in Coco Chanel, before you got out for the day, look at your outfit, and take something off. That is a great piece of advice in cooking too, when it comes to keeping a dish concise and to the point with flavor profiles or components!

So for the components, I have essentially four. The first is the bread, which is my take on chef Albert Adria’s crystal bread recipe. I modified it slightly, since when I tried his version, and I blame my silicone bar molds for this, the crystal breads came out with these gorgeous, puffed, translucent crusts, but they were sadly completely liquid on the bottom. After tossing out that batch, and disgruntledly cleaning up the kudzu starch mess(trust me when I say this, this crystal bread batter is designed to ruin your sponges) in my sink, I re-tried the recipe after making some modifications. I reduced the liquid quantity, and slightly upped the starch quantity, and I also allocated less batter per mold for the optimal results. The end product was more chip-like, obviously being flatter from having less batter used, but the crystal breads were now able to function as intended, instead of being a starchy soup of kudzu and potato with a crystal bread crust on top!

With the tomatoes, I opted to confit them in olive oil, alongside garlic and chilies, just to mellow out the tartness, and focus more on the sweet and umami aspects of the fruit instead. I took some of the confit tomatoes, along with the chilies and garlic that were also mellowed out in that cooking process, and pureed them with a little white balsamic and salt, just to bring some sharpness back into them for a more acidic element for the dish. I also garnished the tops of the crystal bread with some of the confit tomatoes themselves, and micro basil as a way to add in some color, and since basil and tomato pair beautifully together. All in all, this was a relatively challenging recipe, just because of how long the breads have to bake for, and how upsetting it was to waste about 3 hours on that failed first attempt, but when I got a successful batch, it was a. a huge relief, and b. so satisfying to plate these up and see all of those bright colors bounce off of the crystal clear bread crisp that I made. Also fun fact, these are completely vegan and gluten-free, so there is that too!

Makes 12 small portions:
For the crystal bread:
300g water
12g kudzu starch
12g potato starch

In a pot, whisk everything together on high heat until it all comes up to a boil and becomes relatively translucent. Pour the liquid batter into silicone bar molds, portioning them out to 22g per mold. Bake first at 350 degrees F for 1 hour, then at 250 degrees F for another hour. If there is any residual tackiness or moisture, carefully remove the crystal breads from the mold, and then bake them, wet side up, at 250 degrees F for another 25 minutes.

For the confit tomatoes and garlic:
4oz cherry tomatoes
6 cloves of garlic
3 dried red chilies
extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of dried thyme
a pinch of dried oregano

In a pot, add all of your ingredients, including enough EVOO to just submerge your other ingredients in. Cook everything on low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Reserve the oil and a majority of your confit tomatoes for garnish, as you prepare the puree.

For the tomato-chili-garlic puree:
2oz confit tomatoes
reserved confit chilies
2 cloves of confit garlic
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp reserved confit oil
a pinch of salt

In a blender or spice grinder, puree everything until fully smooth. Transfer to a piping bag.

To garnish:
Microherbs
Reserved confit tomato and garlic oil

Brush the exterior of the crystal breads with more of the confit garlic oil. Then pipe on top the puree, and garnish with the confit tomatoes and microherbs to finish.