Chocolate-Covered Toffee with Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt

Ingredients

serves makes about 1 1/4 pounds, active time 25 minutes, total time 2 hours, including setting/cooling

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds, toasted
• Sea salt

Procedures

1. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper. Put the pan on a flat surface and protect the surface—because toffee is sugar cooked at a high temperature—with a trivet or a towel underneath. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and 2 tablespoons water (being careful not to get sugar on the sides of the pan, where it can crystallize) and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil the mixture, stirring constantly, until it turns a beautiful caramel color (about 295°F on a candy thermometer), about 7 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat.
   
2. Add the salt and stir to combine, then add the vanilla and stir to combine. Be careful: the mixture is very hot and will sputter. Immediately pour the toffee onto the parchment paper–lined pan and, with a heatproof spatula, quickly spread it in an even layer almost to the edges. (This is very hot, so resist the temptation to stick a finger in it.)
   
3. Let cool completely.
   
4. Temper the chocolate. Bring 2 inches of water to a bare simmer in a medium pot. Set a medium metal bowl over it, add two-thirds of the chocolate, and gently melt it. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate until melted and smooth.
   
5. Pat the surface of the cooled toffee dry to make sure the chocolate will adhere properly. With the heatproof spatula, spread the melted chocolate in an even layer over the toffee, then quickly scatter the pumpkin seeds on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Let stand until the chocolate hardens.
   
6. Break the toffee into large pieces. The toffee will keep, covered, for up to 2 weeks.

Flying Sea Urchin Pasta with Fish Roe and Chives

Ingredients

serves Serves 4 , active time 20 minutes, total time 20 minutes

• 1/4 pound sea urchin roe sacs
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt
• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon tobiko (flying fish roe) or masago (smelt roe)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 chive flower, separated into blossoms (optional)

Procedures

1. In a blender, combine the sea urchin roe, olive oil, and cayenne pepper and puree.
   
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Just before draining, measure out 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot. Add the butter and stir to thoroughly coat the spaghetti. Add the sea urchin puree and 3 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and stir over medium heat, adding more pasta water by the tablespoon, using most of it, until the pasta is coated with a creamy sauce. Do not boil. Remove the pot from the heat and taste for salt.
   
3. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls, top with tobiko and chives plus chive blossoms, if using, and serve.