Thursday, September 19, 2013

John Dory, Corn, Barley

Corn Broth
I get my corn from the farmers market its local, sweet and delicious. Midwest bi-color corn is the best in my opinion. I start by shucking the corn removing all the green and hair from the kernels. Cut off all the kernels from the cob and scrape the cob with the back of your knife getting everything off. Place the corn cobs in a stock pot and cover with ice, bring it to a simmer and simmer for one hour. Let the corn stock steep for another hour and then strain. Put the cobs on a roasting rack and dry them out, you can use them to smoke, I use them to smoke bacon and it’s very good. Meanwhile in a pot slowly cook the corn kernels in butter with very low heat. After the corn cooks and starts to look dry cover with the corn stock cook it down to a glaze and repeat two more times.  Blend the glazed corn in a Vitamix slowly adding stock, adjust the seasoning and acid, to the desired thickness. Blend on high for about 8 to 10 minutes to work the starch and the broth will become silky. Strain thru a chinois, cool and reheat when needed. The broth will be sweet, buttery and silky with a good mouth feel that goes great with just about anything.

John Dory
Caramelized Barley
Smoked Huitlacoche
Pop Corn
Upland Cress
Corn Broth

Friday, September 13, 2013

Crab, Smoke, Textures


Lemon Air
 On this “duo” dish, we used the same flavors on both sides but if different forms. Only the crab cake side got the smoke to give it a little twist and the guest like the presentation and the puff of smoke at the table. 
To make and air it is pretty simple to do but gives your dish a nice pop of flavor and visual appeal. I use versa whip to get and nonfat liquid to whip in to an air. For the base of the lemon air its lemon juice, lemon zest, limoncello, white verjus, sugar and a touch of salt. Bring that up to a simmer and then cool to room temperature in the pot.  Add some fresh lemon juice to give it a fresh lemon flavor then chinois the liquid. In a mixing bowl put 220g of base, 3g of versa, and 1g of xanthan gum and whip it for 3 minutes on high, it will become a dense air let it sit for another 3 minutes and it will become lighter in texture. You can rewhip the already whipped base to if need be.
Crab Salad
Lemon Puree
Cucumber
Tomato Powder
Fried Avocado
Basil Blossoms
Citrus Marigolds

Crab Cake
Basil Powder
Marinated Cucumber
Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Pressed Avocado
Lemon Air
Opal Basil
Smoke
 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Hen, Tomato, Olive

                                                                                    Tomatoes
At the World of Whirlpool we grow some of your vegetables, herbs and eatable flowers in our 18 rooftop garden boxes. We grow tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, asparagus, eggplant, herbs  anything you think of we grow. The list is way too long to list them all. The cherry tomatoes are awesome this year, sweet as sugar and bright red and yellow. For this dish we made tomato powder, tomato pesto and simple but delicious marinated tomatoes. For the tomato powder we took the tomato peelings, from the cherry tomatoes and some whole tomatoes, put them in our dehydrator over night at 140*F until the tomatoes dried out. Then we put them in a coffee grinder and ground them until it turned into powder and seasoned it with salt and alittle bit of pepper. The powder has a soft tomato flavor that is sweet and a touch salty. The way I make the tomato pesto is by blanching the cherry tomatoes, peel and reserve for the powder. Then toss the tomatoes with finely chopped shallots, shaved garlic, lemon juice, parsley, thyme, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper and dry the tomatoes out until they look like sun dried tomatoes. Then I make the pesto the traditional way, but  I fold in chiffonade basil into the mixture. For the marinated cherry tomatoes, I peel them and marinate them in minus 8 vinegar, shallots, Dijon, parsley and olive oil. I usually marinate the tomatoes for about an hour before service. Before I plate the marinated tomatoes and season them with Maldon salt and cracked black pepper.

Hen Breast
Marinated Tomato
Tomato Powder
Tomato Pesto
Potato Terrine
Bacon and Roasted Garlic Cous Cous
Broccoli
Olive Crumbs
Olive Oil
Upland Cress

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Potato, Escargot, Parsley


Parsley Puree
Wash and dry the parsley. Pick off all the leafs and save the stems for another application. Get our blanching water ready by adding salt and a touch of sugar, bring it to a boil. Blanch the parsley until tender drain and reserve some of the liquid. In a blender blend the parsley with the reserved liquid blend until smooth. Pass the parsley through a chinois and whisk in butter and adjust the seasoning. Keep cold and out of the light until needed.

Potato Gnocchi
Garlic chips
Tempera Hen of the Woods
Preserved Lemon
Black Garlic Puree
Picked Chives
Parsley Puree Chive Blossoms
Sous Vide Mustard Seeds
Escargot

Monday, June 10, 2013

Pea, Pepper, Panisse

Red Pepper Harissa
Wash and dry off the peppers before you start peeling. Peel the peppers and place the peeling on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 102*F for about 8 hours. After the peelings are dry grind in a coffee grinder until powder and season with salt. After the peppers are peeled filet the peppers and cut into a small dice. In a pan add your peppers, olive oil (about half way up the cut peppers), minced garlic, chopped rosemary, honey, salt and pepper. Cook the mixture for about 2 hour on a very low flame. After done cooking add sriracha and banyuls vinegar to your liking. You can serve it hot your cold.

English Pea Panna Cotta
Red Pepper Harissa
Red Pepper Powder
Marcona Almonds
Chick Pea Panisse
Salted Cucumber
Pea Shoots

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Coho, Cress, Caviar

Sous Vide Coho Salmon
First thing to do is break down your salmon and portion to the size you would like. Make a cure with 50% sugar and salt with lemon zest, parsley, pink peppercorns, and ground bay leaf. Put a thin layer down in a sheet pan and place your portioned salmon on the cure and cover with the rest of the cure. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare your vacuum bags for the salmon by putting lemon zest, parsley and some butter. Rinse off the salmon and place into the vacuum bags and seal. Set your water bath at 120*F. Place the salmon filled vacuum bags into the water when needed, it takes about 12 minutes to sous vide.

Sous Vide Coho
Upland Cress Crème
Glazed Beech Mushrooms
Buttered Potato
Potato Chip
Shallot and Garlic Crème Fresh
Smoked Salmon Roe
Picked Upland Cress
Preserved Lemon Zest

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Beef and Textures

Whipped Bone Marrow
Order pre-split bones unless you have a ban saw. Place bones cut side up on roasting racks and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes to loosen the marrow. Take out of the oven, scrape out all the marrow into a bowl, working with it still hot is the easiest. Place the marrow in the cooler until chilled. If you are going to use the bones boil the bones in water with vinegar to loosen all the meat and fat, so you can scrub the bones clean. While the marrow is chilling cut what you want to put in the marrow, it can be anything you want. What I put in it was shallots, garlic, thyme, parsley, Dijon, lemon, salt and pepper. When the marrow is chilled add your cut ingredients to a mixing bowl add the marrow and with a paddle attachment mix until fluffy. Adjust the seasoning if need be. Use the whipped marrow at room temperature or store in the cooler until needed.

Braised Oxtail
Pickled Shallot
Fried Shallot
Brioche
Egg Yolk
Sous Vide Salsify
Crisp Kale
Shaved Breakfast Radish
Picked Basil
Chive