Soft herb and truffle "veloute": This is a recipe I've been wanting to try and use, just posting to remember. 1 tsp fine dice shallots 1 TB olive oil 100ml french dry vermouth(Noilly Prat) 300ml light fish stock 300ml cream 2tsp fine chop chervil, parlsey chives 2TB white truffle oil Sea salt and pepper Gently sweat shallots in oil till soft, no color. Add the vermouth and reduce by more than half. Add the stock and cook till reduced by half. Add cream, bring to boil and reduce by 1/3rd. Remove from heat, add herbs and truffle oil. Season.

creme brulee bistro recipe

Creme brulee for bistro: For 10 to 12. 4 cup cream 1 cup sugar 2 vanilla beans 10 egg yolks 300 degree water bath. I like to use some orange peel and pink pepper corn in the cream infusion. Make sure to pass through chinois no matter, getting all vanilla bean.

chocolate cake (molten) bistro recipe

Molten chocolates for bistro: 16 oz butter 24 oz chocolate 8 eggs 8 egg yolks 1 cup sugar Pinch salt 8 TB flour 450 degree oven, I use 380. Butter and flour ramekins. Melt together butter and chocolate. In a bowl mix sugar and both eggs till pale and light. Fold chocolate into egg mix and finally fold into flour.

Double chocolate cheesecake for philly: 24 oreo cookies, crushed making 2 cups worth. 1/4 cup butter, melted 2 lb philly creme cheese softened 1 cup sugar 2 tB flour 1 tsp vanilla 8 oz bakers semi sweet chocolate 4 eggs Heat oven 325 degree F. 13x9 lined cake pan with foil going over sides. Mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla in mixer. Add chocolate that was melted in a double boiler and cooled slightly and mix well. Add eggs one at a time mixing on slow speed after each until just blended. Pour over crust. Bake 45 minutes until center is almost set. Cool completly, refrigerate after 4 hours.

chicken liver terrine bistro recipe

Mousse de Volaille: I hate this, always have, always will probably. That said it has its place, and this is the base recipe: 500 gram chicken liver 500 gram chicken breast 3 shallots 15cl brandy 3 eggs 45cl or 450ml heavy cream Black peppercorns Clean, marinate and season chicken mix. Cube both breasts and livers. Brunoise shallots, 3 eggs whole. Place breasts, shallots and eggs in food processor and pulse till creamy. Very slowly add the COLD cream. Finish with black pepper and sugar. Bake in water bath, 356 degrees for around 40minutes. For the port topping: 10 gram gelatin 400 ml porto Sugar, salt and pepper. Heat liqour with sugar and season. Add soften gelatin and dissolve. Cool slightly before pouring on top of ramekins with mousse. Cover and let sit over night.

crispy polenta

Not sure if we allready have this recipe, but here it is. Used it on lamb dish"s, its nice. The recipe makes squares that can be breaded and fried for a crispy outside and creamy interior if you use a little cheese. Also, pouring it into a pan that will make squares possible. Grease and parchmant! 5 cups chicken stock. 6 cups water. 1 garlic mince. 3 cups polenta, white if possible. 12 TB butter(3/4cup) Marscapone. Chive. Season. Bring stock to boil with water and garlic. Reduce to simmer and wisk in polenta. Cook 45 minutes then fold in butter, cheese, chive, salt and pepper. Fold into a hotel pan of desired thickness. Let cool. Once cooled, pop out of pan and cut into desired shapes. Bread with seasoned flour and fry at 350 degree's for 6 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Season salt. Stack, layer, etc.

saffron broth

We've used this a lot in the past, sean goland and I. Can be served with a ton of different options for plate compositions. I'm thinking for a fish. Have used this with bass, cod, halibut, even lobster raviolli's. Don't have the resume, but the idea is fennel bottoms, mire poix, dry spices, bay and saffron. Tomato if possible, This is what I do have: Fennel, chopped. Fennel seeds. Pernod. Saffron. Tomato. Red peppers. Chicken stock. Wqutee fennel, the fennel seeds till fragrant in olive oil. Deglaze with pernor, burn off alcohol. Add saffron, chopped tomato, chpped red pepper, stock. Simmer 1 and 1/2 hours. Strain and "clean" up the broth so it is clear. Cheese clothe after running through china cap, chinoise.

roasted shallot dressing

This is the recipe I have been digging for, from 5 years ago. Its great because its a shallot dressing that confit's the onions, giving them a much more balanced flavor. Can be used on almost all "house" salads. 2 cups shallot puree. 1TB dijon mustard. 1 cup sherry vinegar. 2 cups reserved shallot oil. Salt and pepper. This is just a guide, its close but to acheive the balance you want may take some adjusting. So basically, this is shallots confited in the oil, covered very slow. Then strained out, reserving the oil. It will be the same oil used later on. This is the other cooking process: 1 tub peeled shallots. Cover with blended olive oil. Slowly cook until lightly caramelized and tender. Drain shallots and reserve oil. Puree shallots and continue as recipe says.

french onion soup, Luxembourg version

Since doing a recipe base for bistro we are at now, wanted to add the one we used in nyc at lux. Its similar, bit deeper color with the added flour and sugar. In fact, the sugar can be cut in half if you cook the onions right. You won't need it all. 2 case thinly sliced onions. 4lb fresh butter, unsalted. 1 bunch thyme. 1 sprig Rosemary. 4 fresh bay leaves. 2TB black peppercorns. 7 and 1/2 gallons veal stock. 1 and 1/2 gallon light chicken stock. 2 cups salt. 1 cup sugar. 1/4 cup sherry vinegar. 1/2 cup flour. Melt butter in large rondo. Add onions, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook for hours until very soft and caramelized. Season. Add bouquet garni of thyme, rosemary, peppercorns and bayaves. Add sherry vinegar. Reduce. Add wine and reduce. Add flour and cook 10 minutes until absorbed. Add veal broth and chicken stock. Season. Simmer another 3 hours and gently season again. For service: laddle soup into cups, oven proof. Croutons, gruyer and parmesan. Broil until cheese is nicely browned.

glazed carrot soup base

Glazed carrots soup base, yeilds 8qt finish. 12-15 carrots, peeled and large chopped. Equals about 6qt. 3 medium onions, about 2qts large chop. Total 8qt carrots and onion. 1lb butter. 1 1/4 cup sugar. 2tsp salt. 6 cup water. 4 cup chicken stock. 1 1/2 cup white wine. 3qt water. Finish with 1/4 cup fresh butter. 1 TB salt to taste. Place all carrot and onion in large heavy duty rondo. Add butter, salt, sugar, water and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly 4 hours or so. Once the carrots are glazed and all liquids reduced, caramel in color . And consistency. Add wine, and as always reduce to sec. Add 3qt final water and cook, seasoning for 1 more hour. Run through vita prep and either push through chinoise or straight into cooling bain. Season once more with remaining butter and salt. Cool down. Serve with Apple reduction, or creme fraiche. Even chives, duck confit or anything similar. Vanilla bean can be roasted and glazed in the beginning if looking for something a little more sweet.

onion soup base, Voltaire

Onion soup, bistro Voltaire: This is the standard bistro version we use. It's classic prep, certainly needs a lot of seasonings. Makes an 8qt batch, 2 gallons. 24 yellow Spanish onions=16qt Julienne, fine slice. 1lb butter. 1/4 cup canola oil. 4TB salt. 1/3 cup sugar. 200 turns black peppermill. 7lb roasted beef trim, drained oil an 30's tied in cheese cloth with 5 bay leaves. 1 1/2 cup white wine. 4qt veal stock. 6 cloves garlic, smashed. 5 shallots, dice medium. Melt butter and oil. Add onion, shallots, and garlic. Cook 45 minutes until water becomes to leave. At this point add the salt, pepper, sugar and cook for 4-6 hours until nicely browned. Once seasoned onions are cooked and caramelized add beef trim in cheescloth and the wine. Cook wine down to sec, then add veal stock. Cook 3-4 more hours always seasoning. Once the right flavor and consistency are obtained, chill and package.

bacon, apple and thyme stuffing

Bacon, apple and chestnut stuffing: We may use cranberry or a different but, depending on what's left in dry storage. Base recipe: Makes 6 servings. 4 slices bacon(or similar with slab bacon), 2TB butter, 2 medium onions, diced, 2 diced celery ribs, 1 and half tsp thyme, fresh chop, 1/2tsp fresh sage or marjoram chop, 1/4tsp salt, 1/4tsp pepper, 5 cup day old brea cubed, 1 1/4 cooked and quartered chestnuts or substitute, 1 cup peeled diced golden delicious apple, 2TB chop parsley, 1 cup chicken or turkey stock if desired. In large skillet cook bacon$ removed bacon with slotted spoon and drain on towel. Pour off bacon fat, but do not wash. Add 1TB butter and heat. Add onion, celery, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Stir until soft, about 25 minutes. Add bacon. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Add bread, nuts, apples and parsley to mix. Drizzle with sauce. Toss till combined and adjust seasoning. 13x9 greased tray or cooking vessel. Add mix and finally drizzled remaining melted butter on top. Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes covered with foil. Uncover and bake till nicely browned and cooked through.

apple cider glaze for chicken, turkey . and quail

Cider glaze for turkey: 4 cups apple cider, 2TB cider vinegar, 4TB butter, room temp. Salt and black pepper. To make glaze: Boil cider till reduced to 3/4 cup. Add the vinegar, 2TB butter, salt (1tsp), 1/2tsp pepper. Stir until melted. Use to glaze turkey every 10 minutes. Be sure to save pan juices for either a jus, or our case, for thanksgiving, the bourbon gravy.

Bourbon (or white wine) gravy for turkey: For the gravy: 4TB butter 1/2 cup AP 3-4 cups chicken stock Salt, blackpepper 1/2 cup bourbon or dry white wine Melt butter add flour and cook. 5minutes for roux. Wisk in 3 cups stock, salt andpepper. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Until thick. Using pan juices from turkey, collect all. Will need 1.5 cups of jus. Cool and skim. Place empty roasting pans on fire and heat. Deglaze with liquor scrap pan. Add to gravy base and cook 2-3minutes. Adjust consistency with extra stock.

Prep Wednesday 25th, 2013 Linens, check count. Ask for friday if needed. Pants for cook and dish. Turkey reduction Braised turkey crisp thigh, reduce sauce Butter compound for breast Check Salmon, clean and portion. Salmon reduction(champ vinegar, bay leaf etc) Potato for pork loins(fingers upstairs) Clean filet and roast trims. Also use trims in my box, 1/3rd pan bottom left. Bring and count fish up Roast veal bone Veal stock Demi prep Ny strip clean up and roast trimmings for bordelaise. Stocks inventory: Chicken, light Chicken, dark Turkey Beef/veal Vegetable Sauce for service: Salmon: Citrus bur blanc and leek oil Pork: Jus, Cauliflower/truffle, Apple reduc Steak, ny strip:peppercorn(green) Lamb:Red wine reduc, Crisp parsnips Shortrib: Broth/braise liq Chicken: Broth/braise liq Onion soup Glazed carrot soup and garnish Double check misen place Desserts: Tart apple Pecan pie Chocolate cake Blanch: Asparagus green beans Brussel sprouts Stuffing (need recipe), bread from bakery Gnocchi's prep (sauce?) Salmon tartar and beets salad compose Parsnips puree Crispy parsnips Chips, crisp for ? Pomme puree and its prep(10 for service, 1/2 case or 1 for thursday Chives, dice Check thyme Scallion grill (olive oil and black pepper) Pearl onion red wine braised Lardons, render fat and save(torn croutons on frisee) Check leeks oil Check Apple reduction If time: Wash leek Lentil(brunoise:carrot, celery, leek, bacon) Chicken/pork jus Braised chicken, coqauvin prep: Reduce and strain sauce. Portion for service. Friday party counts Order for friday morning Walkin cleanup All pots/pans upstairs for thursday A.M. Plate inventory for Thursday. Rack of lamb clean Pork tenderloin clean Clean and portion mussels

salt crust for whole roasted fish

Salt fish crust For 1fish, 4lb Scaled, gutted, remove bone if possible. 4 cups kosher salt 8 large egg whites 1/2 bunch parsley Fennel fronds 2 thin lemon slice 2 thin orange Olive oil Preheat oven to 425. Stir together egg whites and salt. Use a large oven proof platter, or baking sheet. Make a 1/4inch layer, evenly larger than the size of fish. Stuff the bqck cqvity of fish with the fennel and parsley. Use twice as much parsley. Then line the citrus in cavity, season with pepper ONLY. Center the fish in middle of salt layer. Work from the bottom to the top. Dry with paper towels. Roast for 40 minutes, turning halfway through. Fish temp of 125 and remove from oven. Check with thermo if possible. Let rest 10 minutes.

salmon tartar recipe, bistro voltaire

Salmon tartare at bistro: 3/4cup olive oil, good quality but not to strong, 9tsp rice wine vinegar, 4TB light soy sauce(start with 1 and work your way up taisting), 3-5TB sugar depending on taiste, 6tsp sesame, toasted lightly, 1tsp fresh ground black peppercorn, Season to taiste. Make sure the sesame is completly cooled, mix all ingredients together, leave dressing at room temperature for service.

Beet salad idea for Friday service: Beet salad Sliced very thin, warmed goat cheese so that its is soft, blackpepper sea salt and olive oil, nutmeg? Beet puree for garnish, along with herbed olive oil. Pistachios honey roasted- 1 cup nuts 2TB honey 3 TB sugar 1/8tsp Salt 350 degree oven. Warm the honey add the nuts, sugar and salt and toss well. Spread on parchment lined tray, sperating, and bake 10minutes. Stir the nuts for 5minutes. Cool completly, place in food processor for desired size. Be careful not to over blend and make sure the nuts are 100 percent cooled down before doing so. Beet puree- 1.5 cups orange juice 1/4 cup campari plus 2TB 2 TB white rum 2 beets, peel and shred 1TB potato starch Salt Combine all and refrigerate overnight. Strain through fine chinois into small sauce pan pressing the solids. Wisk in starch, heat till desired consistency season and cool. Orange supreme- 1TB dijon Lemon, juice of one wedge Salt and pepper 3TB good olive oil Stack the sliced thin beets, alternating with the goat cheese mousse. Very important to keep light and warm. Dress a few greens, chopped pistachio with the dijon and lemon dressing. Around the beets, supremes, herbed olive oil, beet puree, more dijon vin, candied pistachio.

Chocolate and Vanilla "petit" Pot de Creme 2 egg yolks plus 1 egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 cup milk, 1 vanilla bean scraped, 50 grams dark chocolate, 1 tsp cocoa powder, Bring the vanilla and milk to a boil in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Cover and steep 20minutes. Strain. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in double boiler, while preheating oven to 325. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar. Slowly add the hot milk mixture. Divide in to halves. Add both chocolates to 1 bowl. Pour into ramekins, removing foam from the tops. Bake in water bath, 30 minutes for chocolate and 35-40 minutes for vanilla. The times for baking are estimates, the custard is done when there is just a small amount of wiggle in the center. Remember, they continue too cook after being taken out of oven. Personally I like to cool them in the water bath by placing entire hotel pan in walkin next to the fan. Needs garnish the vanilla, but the chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate nibs or shavings.

bistro gnocchi recipe

Gnocchi and its prep Gnocchi recipe: for french 1 cup water 1tsp salt 1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 TB butter 1 cup flour 3lg eggs 1/4 cup frsh grated parm or asiago In small saucepan combine water, salt, nutmeg and 2TB butter. Bring to boil. As soon as boils, add all flour at once. Beat with wooden spoon till thick and comes away from the sides. Cook to dry out another 30 seconds. Cool slightly (about 5 minutes.). And transfer to medium bowl. Beat one egg into the mix beat in 1/4 cup cheese and another egg until blended. Then beat in the last egg till dough is smooth. Bring salted water to boil. Carefully pipe gnocchi dough into water till floats. 2-3minutes. Transfer direct to water bath to cool. Place on a oiled sheet tray lined with towels.

Slow poached eggs: 2 recipies, the second is from my time at Momo. Preheat water bath to 63 degrees celcius. Remove the eggs 30min from refrigeration. Wash the eggs and gently put into water bath. Cook 45minutes. Remove and gently crack into ramekins. Season. Bring pot of water with a rack in bottom to 140 degrees F. Cook for 45minutes, remove and crack into desired ramekins.

Thursday prep: Work both chicken and veal reductions. Lemon meringue in addition to apple tart. Possibl cheesecake. Braise chickens. Shired egg prep. Fish special. Work on pork dish and think about tartar dish.

apple tart, bistro french style, Voltaire

We've been replacing lots of worn out ideas. Today was the apple dessert. Previously there was a monsterous apple "struddle"? Something like that at least. Bunch of chopped apples, dried cherries (?) All wrapped in phyllo dough. Again, ? Back to basics, going with apple "tart". For simplicity and ease in the small kitchen. Puff pastry cut into rounds and pricked with fork. Apples, granny's work the best are peeled and sliced. Layered nicely in a circle, brush with generous amount of butter, season with fresh cinnamon and castor sugar. Do not slice the apples to thin or they burn, to thick and they won't arrange. Bake at 325 for 20minutes and then rotate and cook to caramelize. If needed, add more sugar and run the torch over it. We are going to serve with ice cream tonight, and tomorrow as well. But with the addition of an apple reduction and a creme fraice sauce with vanilla bean. Pictures tomorrow...

Back to the egg... Seems like the 2 choices are to either make procuit "cups" with the eggs baked inside or to slow cook the eggs and wrap them with uncooked ham. Main difference would be texture of ham. If going the other way, or maybe with both, brioche sticks would work. Polenta could be nice in the "base", asparagus and brocollini as well. Thinking the truffle foam either way, or the garlic froth, or even a mix. So, egg in the middle, wrapped in ham, around that a froth of truffles and garlic. Construction in 8 hours.

Thinking of wrapping the eggs in ham of some sorts. One idea is to soft cooked the eggs and then wrap in a "raw" piece of procuito. The other, is this: Baked eggs wrapped in procuito "cups": 4 sliced ham (thin), 4 good eggs, 1 TB parsley, Chili flake(few pieces max, and not for me), 1/2 tsp olive oil, Sea salt and black pepper Oven at 180 celcius. Grease 4 ramekins with olive oil. Place them on a sheet tray that's flat. Wrap each slice of the ham around the inside. Press the ham into the mold to form an inner ring. Carefully crack eggs into ramekins. Sprinkle with spices. Bake for 10-20minutes until center is set. Or whatever your desired done ness is. Carefully remove from ring molds.

Truffle cream sauce recipe: (Possible for our egg) 2 cup light chicken stock 1 cup cream 2 TB butter 1/2tsp white truffle oil In medium sauce pan, reduce stock and cream by 1/2. Remove from heat. Wisk butter, oil and season.

soft cooked egg ideas, slow cooked, etc.

Soft cooked egg idea's: Right now comming into the menu from the previous chef there is a "shired" egg or "en croute". With mushrooms and sour cream!? That's what we thought and think too, so gross. So, ideas... Knowing we want to do the egg cooked slow, want to use pancetta or prosciuto, and some texture. Possible with rappinni, truffle, garlic soup/froth, and personally I'd like to see some texture. Parmesan crumble, brioche that's fried. Brown butter brioche? One garlic foam recipe(goes good with fish): 2TB butter 8 garlic cloves, 6 sliced thin, 2 finely chopped 1 medium shallot, sliced thin 1 whole clove 2 cups water 4 anchovy filet, drained 2 TB olive oil 1/4cup cream 2 slices day old white bread, no crust, dice 1inch Salt and White pepper Melt the butter in small sautee pan, add sliced garlic, shallot and whole clove. Cook (no color) for 2 minutes. Add the water and boil over high heat until reduced to 1 cup. Strain into new sauce pan. Add the chpped garlic, anchovie, bread and olive oil and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 10minutes. Transfer and puree with seasoning till froth. Keep warm.

Working on: Short Rib braise, Pot Au Feu Lamb Rack Duck Leg confit, confit de canard Duck Breast roast Chicken braise, Coq au Vin

Vegetable Roulade.

Going over some older recipients, this is a vegetarian option we have done. It's something I'd like to 're visit soon. Basic idea is to make a roll out of roasted vegetables. Zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, red peppers, potatoes, etc. I think we maybe even used some carrot, mushrooms. Tomato Confit is also an option. Select and wash the best quality vegetables you can. Using a sharp mandolin slice the vegetables at an appropriate thickness. Preheat oven to 375. Line several sheet trays with paper or foil. Lightly oil and season the trays with good Olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper. Season the vegetables the same and lay out onto the trays. Roast the vegetables until soft and cooked through trying to take care to preserve their natural colors. The potato must be gently poached first as to not turn brown. Once cooked, set aside and let cool. While the trays are cooling down, make the sauce. Creme fraiche seasoned with olive oil, salt and white pepper. You can heat the sauce and gently reduce if you prefer a hot sauce rather than cool. Finish with fresh chives. Next, line a clean workspace with plastic wrap, gently oil and season. Layer the vegetables on top of one another, prefer to use the potato or squash first as the will help hold the roll together. Once all the vegetables are stacked, making sure to season well. Carefully roll the vegetables makin g sure to leave no air pockets. Once rolled tight, tie both ends jus as we do for the foie roulade. It is important to compress the vegetables as much as possible so that they will glue to one another. The roll can be poached and 're rolled, but we do not. For service, carefully with a sharp knife, or serrated knife, slice into 3 finger slices. For the pickup, heat a saute pan with grapeseed oil. Sautee one side until nicely caramelized and turn over. Place in oven until heated through. Remove from pan and let rest and drain onto paper or a rack. Place the desired amount of sauce on plate, then add the roll. Sea salt and fresh herbs to finish. Nice Olive oil as well.

Photo's of Old Friends and Events

I just found this link and photo's... http://gotham-magazine.com/magazine/the-mens-issue/binn_shots Doing several new exciting things with food and will have photo's and descriptions soon.

Canapes

Tuesday's party. Salmon tartare, Beef tartare, Glazed carrot soup with cardamom, Seared Sirloin "Cap", Brussel sprouts salad, Crispy chicken, Butternut squash. Some of these are just miniture versions of the a la carte menu's items. Glazed Carrot Soup with toasted Cardamom. We glazed a couple dozen carrot's with sugar and butter, stock, salt and pepper. Added to caramelized onions, cooked down with half stock/half water. Pushed through chinois after being buzzed. Served warm with ground toasted cardamom seeds. Salmon tartare like last week, this time on crispy potato chips. Advacado's, blood oranges and sesame seeds. The beef tartare is the same, this time on toast points. Brussel sprouts the same as well. The chicken was an expirement that worked out. The skin was removed from the legs and thighs. Placed on sheet trays between parchement and cooked until cripsy in the oven at 300 degrees. Meanwhile the legs and thighs were cooked in chicken and beef fat. Duck fat would have been better, thyme, peppercorns and garlic. The meat was picked once cooked, seasoned with chopped crispy skin, chives, the braising fat, salt, pepper and apple syrup(reduction).

Tuesday Service

Beets

No photo yet, New dish. Roasted mixed color baby beets, peeled and seasoned with sea salt. Goats cheese, seasoned with salt and pepper and ran through kitchen aid paddle. Plate dressed with red beets reduction, piped cheese with star tip, seasoned beet greens. Olive oil and fluer de sel.

Steak Tartare

New steak tartare. Pickled cucumber, Orange reduction, sesame, Dijon mustard. One of the photos shows the base. After that we dress the beef in a soy and sesame sauce. Shaved parmesan, cubed brioche and poached egg. The egg and brioche are not in the photos. For the dressing, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt and black pepper.

Knives

Finally, they've came in. Both are Tamahagane knives, chef and petty. Made out of a carb and stainless blend, they do not "age" as the pure carbon steel knives do. As you can see in one of the photos, I am holding the new petty Tamahagane up next to my carbon steeled knife. The carbon was purchased at Korin in new york about 5 years ago. Even though the very end of the tip has been knocked off for some time now, it is still my favortie of all my knifes. It's not the most practical as say a chef knife may be in that it can funtion in many situations, but it is an incredibly thin/sharp knife that is easy to run over the stone and maintain. The chef knife is really thin compared to most western knives. It wouldnt be used to bust through a veal breast as say a Henkeils or Wustoff would, but again, is made for finer applications such as light chopping, herb prep, etc.

Chicken 5 Spice

Chicken 5 Spice 1 cup Chili Flakes, 1 cup Bay Leaf, 1/2 cup Black Peppercorn, 1/2 cup Paprika, 1 TB Salt Grind all in spice machine. You will need to season with more salt before cooking.

Brioche, Finished First Run

First run of base recipe. Hoping to refine this weekend and be on menu by next Thursday.

Brioche, Finished

The recipe we worked on the last two days came out of the oven today. The one issue we had was that we get all the air out of the base. Secondly, bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Turn the oven down by 20 degrees and brush all the loaves with an egg was(2 egg yolks and 1/6th cup water. Once brushed, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and the rock sugar. Bake for another 25-30 minutes until the bread is cooked throught. You can either insert a pin and check the consistency or fold one of the loaves out onto the counter and tap on the bottom. The brioche should sound hollow. Return to oven if not done and cook until the pin comes out completly clean and is hot. After the loaves come out of the oven, leave them in their pans, and place on a wire rack to cool for 2 hours. After cooled down, fold out of pans and continue to let cool until completly room temperature. The recipe we made below makes 4 loaves of standard size bread. I want to use this bread for the Ham and Swiss sandwiche's(Croque Madam with egg) and a BBLT. For brunch instead of the focaccia, possibly even as an option at dinner...

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This is the base recipe for the caramel icecream that goes with Butterscotch PotdeCremes. Makes 2 quarts: 2 1/2 cups sugar, divided, 4 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided, 1 tsp Sea Salt 1 tsp Vanilla extract (Prefer to use vanilla bean) 2 cups whole milk 6 large eggs Heat 2 cups sugar in heavy skillet. Stirring with a fork and cook until dark amber. Add 2 1/2 cups cream, and cook until caramel dissolves. Transfer to bowl and stir in the sea salt and vanilla. Cool to room temp. Meanwhile, bring milk, reamaing cups cream and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl, then add half of hot milk mix. Pour back into saucepan and cook over heat, stirring occasionaly with wooden spoon unil 170 degrees farenheit. (or coats back of spoon) Pour custard through chinois into large bowl, then stir in the cooled caramel. Chill and then freeze in machine.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich (Croque Madam)

Preheat oven to 375 degree's farenheiht. For sandwhich's: 8 -1/2 inch thich slices Brioche, 8 oz thinly sliced ham, 8 slices Swiss Cheese, 3 TB butter, 4 LG eggs, 1 cup Mornay Sauce. Layout bread slices. Divide ham onto bread slices and top with cheese making sure none is hanging over edges. Heat thick cast pan, add 1TB butter once melted add half the bread, cheese side up. Cook 2-3 minutes till golden and transfer to oven to melt cheese. Meanwhile, cook eggs withremaining butter until set. You may need to place inthe oven for 1-2 minutes to set the whites. DO NOT FLIP. Place sandwich on plate, Sauce Mornay, finish with eggs and garnish(peppercorns and sea salt). We will use the house made Brioche for this recipe. Mornay Sauce: 3 TB butter, 1/2 cup diced onion, kosher salt, 3 TB flour, 2 cup'smilk, 1 cup cream, 1 bayleaf, 3 peppercorns, 3 cloves, fresh nutmeg, and 1/3 cup grated Comte. (or Emmentaler cheese) Melt butter, add onion and salt, cook slowly. Add flour, cook 3 minutes till Roux. Wisking, add milk and cream. Bring to a simmer, add spices. Slowly simmer, stirring constantly for about 30 minutes. Remove sauce fromheat, season with salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg. Strain and then fold in cheese. The Recipe makes 2 cups. Multiply as needed. Place sauce in plastics and cover with wrap sono skin forms. Can be reheated with a litle bit of cream.

Ideas, January 15th and 16th

Moving forward into next week: Dinner: Butternut Squash Roasted with Thyme and Garlic. Maple syrup, Bacon and Sea Salt. (we used the micro mire poix mix that finally came from M-T.) Glazed Fennel Bulbs with ) Fresh Baked Bread: Popovers. Focaccia. Dinner Salad. Lemon Vinaigrette, fine herbs. (Clamshells we are getting now are too big, maybe try working with some cucumbers instead.) Lunch: BLT. Slab Bacon, Bibb Lettuce and Tomatoes. I think we may use either the Focaccia or Brioche if it comes out to our expectations. The thought of the double Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwhich that comes with a roasted garlic aoili. Fresh cracked black pepper. Warm Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Brioche, Mornay Sauce. Add a sunny side egg if requested. This is a Croque Madam that again, if the Brioche comes out well we will get going asap. Replacment Salad: Ceasar. Brunch: Brioche Bread. Warm Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Briochee, Mornay Sauce. Add a sunny side egg if requested. BLT's. Replacment Salad: Ceasar. Breads: Muffins, we need to 86 the Focaccia asap and replace it with something more brunch appropriate. Pork Bacon, no more Veal. Brunch Potatoes. Now that we are in understanding on the cut and first cook, it looks like we are going to be ready to move into the final stages of putting these potatoes together. Kelly has twennty five pounds of spanish onions prepped for tomorrow, going to have her do my caramelized onion recipe. Fennel Fronds, parley and PICKED thyme. Salt, Sea salt, Fresh Pepper, Onions.

Idaho Potato's

French Fry is something that I've really never really spent a lot of time working with. At cafe lux they allready had a system they were happy with in place. No other place in the last 6 years has even had fries on the menu. Leaving me where I and the rest of the kitchen team helping me are. Previouse to my arrival, the kitchen had been using a potato called "Kennenbechs". They are one of the most expensive potato's out there and after some thougt, why not just the "Idaho's"? And why not? I'd never even heard of a Kennenbech before. They are primarily, from what I can tell a large yukon gold potato. No starch content at all. The size also lacks as they are very round, where as the dimmenshens I had wanted were 6inch by 3 inch. The Idaho's came in a 40 count which were great and can't wait to get started on them. The idea is we have to run out all the old ones which may take another day to two max. Process as follows: Wash Idaho's, getting rid of all excess dirt and loose scrap. Square the potatoes off as best as possible. While cutting and prepping fries preheat one fryer to 245 degree's farenheit. As the fries are cut they need to go into sinks with running cold water until the water turns from white "starch" to clear. Once the water is running clear, strain and pat dry. Place in baskets and submerge in the hot oil and cook until cooked throughout, 3 to 4 minutes. You have to be carefull to not over or under cook as it will make a huge difference in the end. Remove the fries from the oil, gently placing them out on trays with parchment and place in walkin to chill down. Keep in mind, every time the fries are moved, cut, rinsed, dried, cooked, strained, etc the fries are breaking down. So keep the movements to a minimal. When ready for service and an order, preheat the fryer to 375 - 385 degrees. Place the desired amount of french fries in baskets and drop into hot oil. Cook again for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown and crispy throughout. Immediatly place in a large metal bowl lined with towels. Season with both Kosher salt and Sea salt, fresh ground pepper, fresh herbs and parmesan off an micro plain. You can also use truffle oil, white preferabbly and or spanish paprika. You can see the clear difference in qaulity both in length/size and color after being fried. The darker ones are the ones' that have being served now, the ligher ones are what we are shooting for consistently. Also a photo of the actuall potatoes being used for the new batches, which are 15 dollars to the case. The other, Kennenbechs, run 36 dollars a case. Next to come are the sauces...

Sous Vide

We have two of these in the space. One of them we use for all our soft poached eggs, similar to how we did at Momofuku but in a circulating water bath rather than a water bath in an oven. The way it works, and what it's best at, is cooking ingredients at a lower than normal temperature for a longer than normal amount of time. What happens is that wether it's an carrot or sirloin steack the proteins and sugars/fats all cook at a super minimum rate. The produces a product that is beyond tender and if done properlly impossible to over cook. For example, an egg, ordinary one, can be placed in these "immersion circulators" and cooked at 84 degree's celcius for any amount of time, because once the temperature if reached, the computer autommatically adjust's to make sure there is NO flucuation. The egg will come out of the bath after 2 hours the same as it will after 8. I have done a bit of work with these in the past, most memorable was the duck breast at Cafe Luxembourg on the upper west side. The puddings are cooking over night tonight, we will see first hand what happenned over the course of the night. Hopefully we will have some good news when we arrive...

Muscavado Sugar

This is the sugar we are using in the "butterscotch" pudding's. It's very expensive stuff but makes the process of making caramel a scratch. Instead of melting white sugar down into caramel and folding in the butter, the Muscavado and butter are placed in a rondo and heated until melted. That's it. Fold in cream, vanilla and eggs and you are done. One quick not, we made a batch this evening, at 84 degrees celcius sous vide, somewhere around 10-11a.m. the puddings will be done. Also, lastly, at the resaturant we serve these in a small glass mason jar. With the lid taken off after cooking and chilling, a scoop of Caramel Ice Cream is placed on top and finally, black sea salt. Tomorrow we will post some photo's of this finished dessert, along with the breads, most importantly, the Brioche.

Muscavado Pudding

This is a good recipe for anyone who likes butterscotch. 9 cups heavy cream, 6 cups Muscavado sugar, 14 ounces butter unsalted, 2 vanilla beans, scrapped, 30 egg yolks. Melt the butter and sugar together in a heavy bottomed pan. Meanwhile, mix the eggs and vanilla seeds. Also, while these are both working, bring cream to an almost boil and remove quickly. Temper into egg mix, then into sugar and butter mix. Strain through chinois and place in ramekins. Cook sous vide 84.5 degrees celcius for 2 hours. Alternative, water bath is 200 degrees farenheiht for about 2 hours. Cool and serve with salted caramel ice cream.

Brioche Recipe

This is the dough we made earlier and will roll out tomorrow: 1/3 cup warm water, .25oz active dry yeast, 4.5 cups AP flour 1/3 cup sugar 2.5 tsp salt 6 large eggs, room temp, 10 ounces butter, cubbed and room temp. Combine the warm water and yeast. Be careful the yeast will die if the water is TOO hot. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. With the Hobart, and paddle, slowly add egg mix until mixed throughout. Switch to the bread hook and add butter, a 1/3rd at a time. Beating medium speed about 4 minutes in between each batch. After all butter is added, slow to 1st speed and run for another 10 minutes adding enough flour to come into a soft ball. Place in a clean bowl, cover and let rise for three to four hours. Layout onto a flour'd surface and work dough for 5 minutes getting rid of all excess air pockets, and work until smooth and springy to the touch. Again, place in a clean bowl, this time placing in the refrigerator overnight. That brings us to now... Tomorrow we will do as follows: Generously butter 2- 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 loaf pans. Turn the dough out and with floured hands divide the dough in half, shape into rectangles and place into loaf pans. Let dough rise, uncovered until about 1/2" above top of pans which comes to about 3 more hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake in the center oven until weel browned and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool on racks.

Fennel

New side dish, Fennel Bulb's. Looks like each bulb is large enough, if not too large. The one we worked with this evening seen above was done into 1/8's but probably could have went into 10. Once trimmed up, root left enough to hold together and all trimmed to be simmilar size they are glazed. Chicken stock, butter, salt, pepper and sugar. Placed in Rondo in an even layer, enough stock to just come up half way. Once the butter and seasoning's have melted into liquid and the stock has reduced by 10 percent, flip over one by one being careful to not damage them. Parchment paper lid, bring stock down by 80 percent, flip one more time. This time, remove the paper lid and reduce the rest of the way while baisting fennel occasionally. Once all liquid has came down to a caramel, pour over a rack and let rest. For the pickup we were placing the 8 pieces in a satuaa with a litle bit of stock and reheating. Arrange nicely on a plate and finish with sea salt, fronds, micro mire poix. Olive oil if dessired. A dozen bulbs cost 16 dollars, working out to 1.33 per order. Adding all other expenses, at 2 dollar per plate, 25% comes to 8 dollars an order which is exactly where we wanted to be.

Tuesday

Veal Breast with Root Vegetables Chocolate Cake with Banana's And, I want to get the hydro lettuce going as the house salad. The source right now is too large, have to find a different one. Hopefully by this weekend. Fine herbs, Lemon Vinaigrette, Red Grapes and Fennel

Banana

Roasted Banana Ice Cream as Prior Post Recipe

Pecan Bread Pudding Recipe

This is the recipe for the previous posted bread pudding. "Rum Soaked Pecan Bread Pudding": 2 qts toasted Cubed Bread(nuetral flavor), 1 qt toasted "Rum Soaked" Pecans, 10 whole EXLARGE Eggs, 1 qt Heavy Cream, 1 cup good quality Maple Syrup, 1 cup Brown Sugar, 1 1/2 cup "Vanilla" Sugar(this is the sugar we store the vanilla beans in), 4 TB AP Flour, 1/2 Vanilla Bean(scraped), 3/4 cup Rehydrated Golden Raisins, 1/2 cup Callebout Bittersweet Chocolate, shaven(we use 74percent) Toast the Pecans and Bread in 375 degree oven until slightly browned. Meanwhile, place Eggs, Cream, Maple Syrup, both Sugars, Vanilla Bean, Raisins and Chocolate in bowl and wisk together. Wisk in Flour, then add toasted Bread and Pecans and let sit for 10 minutes to soak in most of the liquid. Prepare a water bath in oven and cook, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until stiff when shaken. If you are cooking individual ramekins it's a quicker time, where as a hotel pan or roasting pan can take 15 to 20 more minutes. If prepared in large pan, once cooked, let rest for several minutes then cool completly. Once chilled, fold out onto cutting surface and cut into desired shapes. For service, re-heat in 400 degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes until warm and soft throughout. In the restaurant we finish with some shaved Chocolate and fresh Cream.

Ice Cream

It's winter, but we can still make some pretty cool desserts. Today is Roasted Banana and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Recipe is for a little less than 1 quart finished product. 3-4 Banana's, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces, 1/3 cup Vanilla sugar, 1 TB Butter, 1 1/2 cup Milk, 1/2 Vanilla bean (scraped), 1 1/2 tsp Lemon fresh juice, 1/4 tsp Salt. Place the banana's, butter and sugar plus vanilla bean casing in a satua and roast at 400 degrees until nice, soft and a bit caramelized. You will have to toss them around three to four times durring the cook procedure. Once the banana's are cooked, place in the vita prep making sure to get all the butter and sugar into mixer as well. (remove the vanilla bean casing) Add milk, vanilla bean seeds, lemon, salt and puree until smooth. Chill in refrigerator and spin accordingly.

Soft Chocolate Cakes

For the Motlen Chocolates: 1 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate (we use callebout) 6 TB good quality butter, again unsalted 1 cup sugar (we use the vanilla sugar) 1 cup AP Flour 6 egg yolk, EXLRGE 6 whole egg, EXLRGE Bring chocolate and butter together in double boil over medium low heat to melt. Sugar, egg yolk and egg whole together and wisk for three minutes. Fold egg mix into chocolate mix, blending well. Fold in with spatula flour until just mixed. Butter and flour or sugar the ramekins, in the restaurant I've been using the exspresso cups because they are the perfect size but more preferable would be a ramekin suited to this application. Once buttered and floured/sugar, fill three quarters full and let rest on counter until ready to be fired. At 425 degrees we were comming out at 6 minutes, but some cases can take up to nine minutes but NO MORE. Depends on how often your oven is opened and how strong it is. Regardless, the chocolate should be cooked about 1/8th inch in from the sides and the middle should still be sticky.

Green Herb Sauce

We had found this recipe a few weeks ago, here it is. The guys wanted to have a herb sauce with the sirloin, this one works well and comes out taisting really good. Veal stock, different herbs, some blanched, some raw and emulsified olive oil.

Desserts from the weekend

It's hard to get good photo's of our desserts, but they came out great this weekend. Bread pudding is from Scott's space out in L.A., the Chocolate is mine from NYC. It's a lava cake, 400 degrees for 6 minutes. Hopefully this week we will figure out the permenant plating for both desserts. The Pecan and Rum infused Bread Pudding is baked in a water bath for 35 minutes at 350. Callebout Chocolate and Pickled Raisins.

Whole Grain Mustard in house (grass fed)

Whole Grain Mustard, in house for FOH: 1 1/2 cups oatmeal stout, 1 1/2 cups mustard seeds (dried), 1 cup Red Wine Vinegar, 1 TB Salt, 1 tsp Sugar, 1 tsp Black Pepper, 1/4 tsp following: Cinnamon, Ground Cloves Ground Nutmeg Ground Ginger Measure out beer. Place in large bain, measure and add red wine vinegar. Add salt, pepper and spices. wisk together and finally add mustard seeds. Age for 1-2 days in office. Puree in robot coux until desired consistency is achieved as the mustard seeds will break down the more you puree, so be careful to not overdue. Also make sure to keep scraping down the sides of mixer as you puree. Remove, season final and package. This recipe makes 3 1/2 cups. This recipe mustard we will use for all FOH requests. For the BOH, for all recipes etc, please use Dijon Mustard from the Large 3kilo's.

Ketchup Recipe (grass fed)

Grass fed Ketchup(recipe makes 3 quarts, Multiply accordingly): 1 28 oz can San Marizano's Style Tomato, Roma, 3 medium yellow spanish onion, rough chopped, 5 clove garlic, smashed, 5 fresh jalapeno, smoked and deseeded, 1/2 cup brown sugar, light prefer, 3 cup cider vinegar, water for conisistency, but usually does not need any, recipe follows... Sautee until clear garlic, onion and jalapeno. Make sure to take seed's out of jalapeno before smoking. Once clear, add sugar and then vinegar, cooking down for a few moments. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Pull of fire and pure with stick blender, transfer to new pot. Bring to simmer again, this time cooking for two to three hours until the desired consistency. Once off fire, season, and cool. Once cold, you can make your adjustments to consistency and seasoning final. Probably for us, we mulitply times 5 which is... 5 cans Tomato, 15 yellow onion, 20 garlic cloves, 20 jalapeno's, 2 cups brown sugar, 13 cups cider vinegar

Hose Made List

List of house mades for week/weekend: Ketchup Mustard Jerkey Bacon Salad Dressings Pickles-cucumber Pickles-red onion Roma Tomato-slow cooked marinated Foccacia Bread Hamburger Buns? Waffle Prep Honey Butter Sage Butter Apple Squash Butter Fruit Jelly and Jams