Carbonara!!!

Is there anything better than a roasted piece of pork belly? Your right …NOTHING! This is my version on an Italian classic. I brined this pork belly in a mixture of white wine, apple cider, pork stock, and salt for 6 hours. Then I portioned it and roasted it for 3 hours at 275 degrees. To order I season with salt and pepper and sear it again. The pasta is acctually my “home made” cavatelli. It is made with goat cheese and roasted shallot puree. The sauce is a Parmesan infused cream that is tossed with the pasta and a little egg yolk to order. I finish with micro chervil and a single Cantrell mushroom sauteed in the pork juices. A nice second course for the tasting menu last week.

Simple Sole

 I was at work the other night when our fish vendor came in with Dover Sole that were caught less than 24 hour before. They were gorgeous. I was told by my chef to do a seafood course for the tasting menu that night. As I was cleaning them and portioning them I was thinking about a way to utilize the roe sack. So I thought of making a hollandaise with the sack after I poached it. It turned out pretty well, the only bad thing was it’s very little flavor. The next thing to check off my list was something to accompany this sole. I thought of a starch/vegetable combination in the French Laundry Cookbook Artichokes Berigoule (page. 63). This is a braised artichokes dish that is amazing. I love braising (it is probably my favorite cooking method). So I tried to remake this dish only with sun-chokes. I thought that it turned out very nice. Back to the sole, I decided to give it kind of a crispiness. I breaded it in garbanzo bean flour and panko bread crumbs. I warmed the flour and the bread crumbs with a few herbs and butter. Then when it had cooled i lightly breaded the sole. I then seared the fish on both sides and served it on top of the sun-chokes. Topped with micro mache and a squeeze of lemon the flavors were perfect.

Wagyu Flat Iron Au Poivre, Braised Bottom Mushrooms, Arugula basted Potatoes

So this is a cool little dish i did for a special the other night. The restaurant got in these sample wagyu flat iron steaks that were nothing short of amazing. I did one steak au poivre which means, (crusted on one side in green pepper). The other i just seared. I have been wanted to do this potato gratinwith manchego cheese and fresh arugula. The mushrooms that I was able to work with were pretty amazing too. We were able to get these organic tan button mushrooms that are locally grown right out side of Denver. They were so small and had a good intense mushroom flavor. I decided to braise them in a black pepper gastrique and a little veal stock. This braising liquid also turned out to be my sauce. This is such a rustic dish and it had really good flavors I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. I could work on the plating though.

Seared Foie Gras, Scallop Crema, House Made English Muffin & Quince Compote

This is an amuse that I did a while back but though that it was pretty cool. I will start with the scallop crema. This is a scallop infused cream soup that is made by pretty much boiling scallops in cream with a few herbs and some cloves. This is one of my all time favorite soups. I served it with the house made honey English muffin that I made and a small piece of seared foie. The compote is a cranberry compote that I pureed and then strained. Then I added a little bit a micro brunoised quince to it. I served the crema in a shot glass with a little sage oil. I really think that the scallop and the foie go well together. The sage also gives the crema a little burst of flavor as well. I really like this amuse.

Snake River Farms Veal Cheeks and Polenta

So my chef asked me the other day if I had ever worked with veal cheeks before. I said no I haven’t, but I would like to. So I did a special with them for a pretty busy Wednesday. I was trying to think how exactly how i wanted to cook them. I was thinking about braising them and then dredging them in flour and crisping them up. But I decided aginst that and braised them in demiglace compound sauce bordelaise. i braised them along with pearl onions, carrots that I cut into balls, and fresh herbs. I then use the carrots and onions for my vegetables on the plate. I strain the sauce and then fortify it. I had some beautiful laramer farms yellow polenta that had been lying around so I decided I would make a friend polenta cake to go along with cheeks. I hollowed out the cake before i fried it so that I could plate the vegetables inside it. I then add a little wilted spinach to the vegetables and sauce with my fortified bordelaise. It’s a very rustic and so rich but it believe there was 9 sold that night so I can’t complain.

Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, White Bean Puree, Arugula Pesto & Grilled Frisee

Thursday night I was asked to make a special with some beautifu sushi grade yellow fin tuna that we got in as a sample. So I looked through the walk in to see if there was anything that was not getting utilized. I came across a lot of arugula, and a huge amount of white beans. So i decided to make an arugula pesto. I made it with pecorino cheese, walnuts, lemon infused olive oil that I made my self about a month earlier & some of the white beans too. Next I roasted some red peppers and grilled the frisee. The white bean puree is a standard puree with a few whole beans tossed in with it. Finally I marinated the tuna in manni olive oil, fresh herbs, and a little Cayenne pepper. Then seared it on all sides. I really am pround of this dish because i utilized food from the walk in and becuase the flavors all work well with each other.

Hudson Valley Foie Gras (The Ultimate)

As many of you know Foie Gras is probably my favorite food in the world. I love it in any way shape or form. Moulard Duck foie gras would be my choice opposed to goose but they are both amazing. I got a lobe of it from a local artisan cheese store called the Truffle. So all i did was experiment. I had an idea around new years back in Kansas City at the American that I told my buddy Brad and Alex about, A Foie Gras milk shake! I know weird huh? This is my favorite foie besides seared of course. I also made foie gras spaetzle, gnocchi, roast foie gras pate a choux rolls, and I had just enough left to roll one torcheon. It was the best ingredient to experiment because there is so much you can do with it. Look out for my new dish trio of foie gras. Here is a picture of my grade “A” lobe, and my new t-shirt that says, “stop tofu abuse, eat foir gras”

Not So Ordinary Oysters

So one day last week I was thinking about this oyster chowder that The American Restaurant has on their menu. I was thinking of a way that oysters and potatoes could be on the same plate only not in a soup or chowder. I remembered these oysters that I had Nantucket a few years back that sat on top of a potato chip. I figured that I might try to recreate this dish. So instead of setting the oyster on top of the chip I wrapped the oyster inside the potato and deep fried it. I then added this Parmesan leek emulsion, wilted spinach that I hit with a little sherry vinegar and some house made bacon lardoons. Not the most appealing dish but defiantly a lot of flavor. Good color as well.

Pork Shoulder

Berkshire Pork is probably the best pork in the counrty. Its tenderness is unmatched and its flavor is so intense that there is really no other comparison to it. In my most recent dish I have made for you a berkshire pork shoulder confit with butternutt squash gnocchi, fennel puree & carmelized apple choucroute. I brined the pork in an apple cider brine for 24 hours. Then I cook it in duck fat for 4 hours in an oven set at 250 degrees. It falls apart in your mouth, and the fortified pork stock that I serve it with is a well suited accompaniment and is amazing to dip the gnocchi in.

Saki Salmon and Roasted Beet Spaetzle

This is a dish that I put on the menu about a week back and has suprisenly sold well. I poached the salmon in beurre monte to order. The Beets are roasted whole then cut into brunoise. I made just a basic spaetzle and then saute the beets and spaetzle together in butter. What happens is the beets bleed into the spaetzle turning the spaetzle a pinkish color. I finish this dish with a horsradish beurre blanc and chive oil giving it a beautiful presentation along with unigue flavor combinations.