cashew soup

We are going to serve this new years eve as a choice between soup or "salad". I had some reservations but it came out really great. Started with 2 5lb bags cashew, 10lb total and roasted them until golden brown and the oil began to come from them. About 20 Minutes rotating and turning throughout. Once golden remove and'm let come to room temperature. Meanwhile roast or sautee some Mirpoix until soft. Add cashews and cook for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Cover with cream and cook several hours until the cashews are completely soft and braised. The cream will look as though it is curdeled. That's okay it's supposed to. Once soft, remove from heat and strain off remaining liquid. Place in vita prep and in batches, using the liquid for consistency puree until smooth. Original recipe doesnt Call for the soup to be pushed through a chinoise but next time I may try. Either way once finished season and adjust consistency. Served with caviar and puffed rice for texture. But I think the garnish can be played with a lot in the future. Serve warm, not to hot. This turned out to be an idea that at first sounded impossible but turned out amazingly unique and tasted amazing.

Sandwich Mortadella with rocket...

Cantonese Style Steamed Sea Bass

Serves 2-4 people family style. 1 12-14 whole sea bass, cleaned and dried. 1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt. 4 dried shitake mushrooms, stemmed. 1 TB. Chinese rice wine. 1/2 tsp. sugar. 3 cloves garlic, minced. 2 Scallions, julienned. 1 3" piece ginger, peeled and julienned. 1/4 cups canola oil. 2 TB. soy sauce. 6 sprigs cilantro. The original recipe is done in a wok but a 12 inch skillet will work just fine. Place bass one baking sheet tray fitted with a rack, season and let rest 30 minutes. Make sure to season inside as well. Transfer to a heat proof platter. Soak the mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water until soft. About 30 minutes, drain and slice. Mix mushrooms with wine, sugar, garlic, half the Scallions, and the ginger in a bowl. Rub over outside and inside cavity of fish. Set up a steamer. In the base recipe, bring 1 inch water to boil in a 14 inch flat bottomed wok fitted with an 11 inch bamboo steamer. Place platter with bass in steamer base and cover. Steam until cooked through, about 12-15 minutes. Remove platter. Heat oil in a 1 quart sauce pan over medium heat until shimmering and drizzle over the fish. Garnish with leftover Scallions, soy sauce and cilantro.

Sole Piccata recipe

For 4 portions: 4-6 ounce skinless fillets of grey or Dover sole. Turbot, tilapia, or any thin flaked fish will work. Kosher salt and pepper to taste. 1/2 cup flour. 1/4 cups canola oil. 4 TB unsalted butter. 1 large shallot, minced. 1/2 lemon thinly sliced. 1/4 cup dry white wine. 2 tsp. capers. Pat fillet with towel to dry. Season and dredge each in the flour. Heat 2TB oil and 1 TB butter in a 12 inch skillet. Over high heat cook fillets 2 at a time until golden brown flipping once and cooking for 3-4 minutes. Transfer to 2 plates. Once all fillets are cooked, add 1 TB butter, the shallot and lemons until shallots are just cooked through. 1-2 minutes. Add wine, cook, scraping up browned bits from pan. Add remaining butter, capers and season. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened. Spoon over fillets.

Double lemon cheesecake recipe

Serves 16. Total prep time, 7 to 8 hours, 2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs. 3 TB butter melted. 32 ounces cream cheese softened. 1 and 3/4 cup sugar, divided. 3 TB flour. 1 TB lemon (zest). 1/3 cup lemon juice divided. 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 fresh vanilla bean, preferably fresh. 4 eggs, 1 seperated. 2 TB cornstarch. 1/2 cup water. heat oven to 325 degrees and line a 13x9 inch pan with foil. (This recipe produces a very thin almost like "bars".) But can be made in any desired form or shape. Jusr substitute the cooking vessel and obviously the cooking time will be longer the thicker you go. Mix wafer crumbs and butter and press onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup of the sugar, flour, lemon zest, 2 TB lemon juice and the vanilla in mixer until blended, do not over mix. Add 1 egg white and then the 3 whole eggs. Let mix for just a bit after addition of each egg.(Reserve yolk for later use.) Pour the batter over the prepared crust. Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool for 1 hour and then refrigerate 4 more hours. Mix cornstarch and remaining 1 cup of sugar in heavy bottom pan gradually adding water and remaining lemon juice. Bring just to a boil. Stir constantly until clear and thickened. Lightly beat reserved egg yolk until blended. Then stir in theen 2 TB hot cornstarch mixture. Return to remaining cornstarch mixture in sauce pan. Cook and stir until thickened, about 1 minute. Cool. Spoon glaze over cheesecake and refrigerate 1 hour.

De-glazing with tea???

Saw this the other day. It is an old Quebecois kitchen habit to use strong black tea, which has tannins similar to red wine, to deglaze a pan. After the meat has been browned, remove to a rack. Add 1/2 cup strong black tea and an acid 2TB fresh lemon for poultry or 2TB red wine vinegar for red meats. Cook, scraping browned bits from pan until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in 2TB fresh cold butter. Season with sugar, salt and pepper. Makes about 1/3 cup.

French bordelaise ("fake or quick)

Either way you look at it, the classic sauce is amazing and Un replaceable. Unfortunately, the classic takes about 4 days from start to finish and costs several hundred dollars to make proper. Wine, butter, veal bones shallots, reductions, it goes on forever. Bone marrow, demi-glace, you get the idea. I saw this the other day and reminded me of something I saw several seasons ago where the "chef" was using beets to make something similar in his mind. Here's what he was doing, (or attempting to do...) I'm going to try it out and see what it's like compared to the real deal. I don't see it being close or even how it could be so let's see... Balsamic "Bordelaise" : (makes 1/3 cup) Melt 1TB butter in a skillet or pan you just fried your meat in. Or for a clear sauce use a clean heavy bottomed pan. Cook 1 chopped shallot and 1 small beet until soft. Add 3TB each Balsamic, and water. 1tsp soy sauce with salt and pepper. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat and wisk in 4th fresh butter. Make sure it's cold fresh good quality butter, unsalted Strain and season. You may finish with some fresh herbs, thyme or similar but only just before serving.

Coming weeks...

New years is coming up soon. Chef is wanting to have everything ready by Tuesday so that we can go over the menu with front of house staff and the owner as well. Over the next few days I hope to be documenting a lot of new recipes and photos of the amount of labor and time that goes into doing a new years eve menu. A lot of the ideas are chefs, my main responsibility will be organizing and help Chef with production. Mostly delegating to the cooks on the line their responsibilities. Unfortunately it's crammed into this one week of emmense prep and organization. But we will make it as we always do. Should have the menu up in a day or two, it's done I've just not had time to post it. One main project I've taken on is a banana dessert. I'm thinking some kind of custard or creme. Possibly a deconstructed banana creme or banana Elvis style which is what I'm thinking now... Time for bed.

Carrot cake (SIP) recipe

We were buying these pre fabricated and after not making the 48 minimum advance notice it occurred to us it maybe easier and more cost efficient to do them in house. And we were right. The outcome product is superior. So with chefs recipe for the base and mine for the frosting we are set. Note that we bake the carrot cake on sheet trays to keep the correct thickness. About one finger. Any more and it won't work in the ramekins if you want to have the desired effect of the Terrine or layers we are doing. For the cake:(bake at 375 in convection turning halfway through. About 12-15 minutes total. Let cool on speed rack and then refrigerate. 32 Oz sugar. .5 Oz baking powder. .5 Oz baking soda. .5 tsp CINNAMON. 30 Oz flour, AP. 10 egg yolks, medium sized eggs. 30 Oz plain oil, canola preferred. 3 lb carrots, peeled, ran over box grater large size. 12 Oz egg whites beat to soft peaks. Keep cold. Mix all the dry ingredients. Mix all the wet with exception of the whites. Do mix the grated carrot into to wet mix. Add the dry to the wet gently with a wisk. Using a spatula or wooden spoon fold in egg whites very gently. Lay out onto prepared sheet trays either greased or parchment. I do both. You will need one large full and one half sheet tray for this recipe. As mentioned before, the thickness can be no more than one finger thick. Any thicker and the recipe will not work. Bake until golden brown and knife comes out clean. 15-17 minutes. Place on speed rack and let cool. Finally place in refrigerator and cool. Meanwhile.... (make the frosting) For the frosting: 32 Oz cream cheese softened and placed in kitchen aid with paddle attachment. Mix until soft and workable. No lumps. Must be smooth. 2 cup confectionery sugar. 4 TB orange zest or less depending on flavor. 1 pinch salt. 2 cups cream, cold. Once the cream cheese is ready add the sugar, zest, and salt. Finally slowly add cream. Remove from bowl and place in pastry bag and refrigerate. Construction.... Cut the carrot cake into desired shapes, in our case rounds that fit into our ramekins. Place one piece of carrot cake cake round into ramekin and press down to make sure there is no air and the cake is completely covering covering the bottom "layer". Squeeze enough of your frosting in next to make a layer the same thickness as the cake. Smooth out level. Add another carrot cake round and then a layer of frosting until the desired amount Of layers is met. In our case 2 of each. Seal or wrap tightly and wait until service. About 15 minutes before being served remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Very simple but great tasting dessert with a small twist on the traditional version. This recipe makes 20 ramekins with 1 half sheet tray of cake left and one half point left of frosting.

Steamed sea bass (Cantonese style)

Serves 2-4 people. This recipe only works with fresh whole fish. Recipe calls for a wok but a 12inch skillet will do. 1-12to14 whole sea bass, cleaned and dried. No Scales. 1.5 tsp kosher salt. 4 dried shitake mushrooms. Stemmees removed. 1TBSP rice wine vinegar. 1.5 tsp sugar. 3 cloves garlic. Minced. 2 Scallions, julienned. 1-3" piece of ginger peeled and julienned. 1\4 cup canola oil. 2 TBSP soy sauce. 6 sprigs cilantro chop, mince or whole/ripped fresh. Place the bass on a baking sheet fitted with a rack. Season cavity and outside with salt. Let air-dry 30 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof platter. Soak mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water for 1 hour until softened. Drain and slice. Mix mushrooms, wine, sugar, garlic and half the Scalliona and and the ginger. Rub over and in cavity of bass. Bring water to a boil in a 14" STEAMER. Place fish still on platter in steamer and cover until cooked through. 12-15 minutes. Remove platter. Heat oil in 1qt saucepan over medium high heat until shimmering drizzle over fish. Garnish with remaining Scallions, the soy sauce and cilantro.

Risotto with grapefruit and seared Scallops

It's winter time and I don't feel like we are using near enough grapefruit or citrus in general since winter time is the time to use then. This recipe sounds risky but works very well together. I feel like people will be freaked out by the combo but it works well. For six people or 12 tasting portions; The sweet sea scallops compliment the rice with tart grapefruits. 6 cups chicken stock. 8 TBSP unsalted butter. 3 Oz procutto , finely chopped. 2 large shallots, finely chopped. 2 cups Arborio rice. 1\2 cup dry white wine. 1\3 cup heavy cream. 1\4 cup grated parmesan. Kosher salt to taste. 1.5 TBSP Espelette. 1lb large sea scallops. 2 grapefruit, zested, peeled, and supremed. 2 TBSP chopped tarragon. Bring stock to a simmer in a 2qt saucepan over medium heat. Keep warm. Heat 6TBSP butter and the procutto in a 6qt saucepan over medium heat. Cook stirring occasionally until browned. Three to five minutes. Add shallots until clear. Add wine and cook till reduced by half. Add 1/2 cup warm stock, stirring until absorbed. Continue adding stock until rice is creamy, about 20 minutes. Stir in cream, procutto, salt, add 1TBSP Eapelette. Keep warm. Melt remaining butter in a 12inch skillet over medium heat. Season scallops with salt and remaining Espelette. Cook scallops. Stir grapefruit zest and juice into risotto and divide between 6 to 12 bowls. Top with scallops, garnish with tarragon and supreme grapefruit. @

Fricasse DE Pollo(serves four)

This recipe is from Nita Villa pool a Cuban cook. Seems like a good winter time dish. It's draws flavor from a mix of olives and capers and sweetness or raisins. 1\4 cup fresh lime juice. 1\4 cup fresh orange juice. 3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed. 1 3.5-4.0 chicken, quartered(backbone discarded or saved for stocks.) Kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste. 1/3 cup olive oil. 1 large green pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced. 1 large white onion, thinly sliced. 1 cup dry white wine. 1lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces. 1\4 cup alacaparrado pepper(or 1\3 pimento stuffed olives and 2 TBSP capers. 1\4 cup raisins. 1-8oz can tomato sauce. 1cup frozen peas, defrosted. Toss lime and orange juices. Add garlic, chicken, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover and chill several hours. Heat the oil in an 8qt sauce pan over medium high heat. Remove chicken from marinade. Pat dry using paper towels and reserve marinade. Working in batches cook chicken flipping once until browned. 8-10 minutes. Transfer chicken to tray. Add bell peppers, and onions and cook until soft. Add wine and cook scraping browned bits and reduce by half. Return chicken to pan and and add reserved marinade, potatoes, alacaparrado(or the substitute) raisins, tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and 1\2 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cooked covered, until chicken and potatoes are tender about 1 hour. Stir in the peas before serving.

Grapefruit Terrine Recipe

Serves 6. Grapefruit is suspended in Orange liquor spiked gelatin. This is an original recipe from a book called "Terrine". 6 grapefruit, 3 pink or red and 3 white, supreme. Plus 3/4 cups juice. 5 gelatin sheets 2/3 cups light brown sugar packed. 1/4 cups Contreau. 1/4 cups ground cinnamon. 1/8tsp kosher salt. Place grapefruit segment on an even layer of a double thick paper towels. Using more paper towels, gently press tops of segments to soak up excess juice. Remove top layer of paper towels and let grapefruit air dry for 1 to 2 hours. Line 6 8oz Ramekins with 2 layers plastic wrap, letting 2 inches hang over the edge. Arrange grapefruit in layers between Ramekins alternating colors and set aside. Place gelatin in a bowl and cover with cold water, let sit until soft, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile combine grapefruit juices and sugar. As well as the Contreau, cinnamon, and salt in a 2qt sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cook until sugar dissolves about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside. Squeeze the water completely free from the gelatin. Wisk into sugar mix until smooth. Divide evenly between Ramekins; chill until set at least 12 hours. To serve, unmold Terrine and peel off plastic wrap.

Zucchini fritters (SIP) recipe

1 zucchini (2medium) grated on box grater. 1 tsp salt. 1 TB lemon zest. 10 sprig parsley fine chop/mince. 1 clove garlic, minced. 1\4 tsp fresh black pepper. 2 large eggs. 1\2 cup flour, A.P. Feta cheese to taste. Olive oil to fry in. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and season with spices and Feta. Heat olive oil in in a sautee pan and add Table spooned amounts in the heated olive oil. Let brown on one side and turn over and cook several more minutes. All in, cooking time is 3 minutes max. Remove from sautee pan and place on rack or towels to drain. Season with a little bit of salt and check for flavor. You can also zest some fresh lemon on top or place a little more Feta cheese on top.

(SIP) pancake and waffle batter recipe. (brunch)

This is Joli original recipe which makes very fluffy and airy pancakes just do not over mix and make sure to do dry and wet separate, folding together prior to service with a spatula or spoon. NO WISK OR BLENDER. 1.5 cups cups baking powder. .5 cups baking soda. 9 cartons buttermilk quarts. 53 eggs. 10 cups melted butter. . 5 cups vanilla extract. . 5 cups salt. 38 cups cups A.P. flour 7 cups sugar. Very easy if you have ever made pancake batters before. Mix all the dry in one large bowl and mix the liquids in a separate bowl. Once both are mixed, fold one into the other. Gently. Keep as cold as possible and do not make until last moment. This recipe makes many many orders, certainly more than needed in the home environment so adjust accordingly.

(SIP) ALMOND BRITTLE RECIPE for pear salad

1/2cup sliced almonds, toasted. 6 cups sugar. 1 cup water. Place water and sugar in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Do not stir, letting the sugar cook twenty minutes until amber color desired is acquired. Or until 230 on candy thermometer. Meanwhile place a silpat on a sheet tray or evenly butter a large sheet tray. Fold the almonds into the sugar mixture and working quickly pour onto prepared trays. Use a fork to pull the caramel towards the sides for desired consistency. Let cool, room temperature, never refrigerate. Once cooled break into bite sized pieces. Store room temperature, partially covered with c fold towels top and bottom. Again, we are using this in our pear salad. The combined flavors work very well with one another. This recipe though can be made into any flavored brittle. The main thing is making sure to get the brittle proper thickness. Which to myself is thin as possible.

(SIP) Miso and ginger dressing /vinaigrette

Three quarters cup white Miso. One cup rice wine vinegar. Three TB honey. One half cup fresh ginger. Three quarters cup sesame oil. Twelve tsp lemon. One tsp white and one tsp black toasted sesame seeds. Salt, pepper, sugar. Place all ingredients in mixer except for the sesame seeds and sesame oil. Slowly add oil and once mixed thoroughly season with the salt, pepper and sugar. Add sesame seeds. Check for flavor and cool. Q;1 Serve room temperature. We are using this on the Brussels sprouts, as almost a "dressing" after sautéed. I would say you are almost deglazing the pan with this dressing. Not using too much as it is very flavorful. Obviously the potential for other dishes is endless...

roasted garlic aoili (SIP) mayo base recipe

For the base mayonaise recipe: 8 egg yolk. 12 tsp lemon. 8 tsp vinegar. 2 tsp dijon. 2 tsp salt. Pepper to taste. 6 cups neutral flavored oil. For the "garlic aoili": 1/2 gallon garlic cloves. canola oil to cover. aluminum foil and a hotel plan. Method follows towards the end but in reality this should be done at least several days in advance. Place all ingredients in mixer except for the oil. With machine running on high slowly add oil making an emulsification. Season again and package. For the roasted garlic aoili the only difference is that at the end you add roasted garlic puree. (Place several cups of peeled garlic cloves in a small hotel pan. Cover with canola oil, cover with foil and cook until very very soft. Remove the foil and roast for an additional 30 minutes to gain a little bit of color. Remove from oil, let cool. Puree through blender or push through a tamis or chinoise. Save the garlic infused oil for dressings or for re use next batch. (I use whole garlic cloves done the exact same method. Pushing through a tamis when cool enough to work with. To myself this provides a superior product but both methods will result in a very nice garlic puree.) For a garlic aoili, once the base recipe has been made place in a large bowl. With a wisk add garlic puree until desired flavor is accomplished. Finish with fresh lemon juice or zest. Cover and store properly in refrigerator for n up to 2 weeks. (The base is limet less in the flavors that can be added)

orange and thyme vinaigrette "SIP"

1 cup sherry or similar vinegar. We use rice wine but could use champagne vinegar as well. 1 cup fresh orange juice 2 cup mild flavor olive oil. Personally I like to use canola or grapeseed for a neutral flavor. 2 to 3 sprig fresh thyme whole/fresh Salt. Pepper. Sugar, about 1/4 cup for flavor as well. Blend all ingredients except for thyme and oil. Gradually add oil so that it becomes emulsified. Season well and remove from vita prep and place in storage container. Now add the sprigs of thyme and let infuse for several days. (The original recipe called for chopped thyme but I prefer not because of several reasons. One being the thyme immediataly becomes dark and gross. Second letting the dressing infuse for several days or even weeks gives a much more subtle flavor. We are using this on a grilled vegetable salad but its uses are limet less.)

apple cider gastrique recipe

1 cup honey 2 cup apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar Sea salt and pepper Heat honey and cook until golden amber. Add vinegar and cook 15 minute's on simmer until desired consistency. Season.

SIP Butternut squash soup recipe

2 butternut squash 1/2'd, scored and seasoned salt pepper brown sugar and butter. Cover and roast flesh side up for 1 to 2 hours until soft. Remove foil and roast another 30 minutes. Meanwhile sautee 2 medium spanish onions and 2 cloves garlic until soft and half caramelized. Add scrapped squash and all juices to this mix and cook 30 minutes. Add 1 half bottle dry white wine and reduce to sec. Season and add stock for consistency. Vita prep and push through chinoise, season salt , pepper, sugar, and 2 TB Curry powder. Finish with fresh butter.

SIP Guajillo pepper-pine apple bbq sauce recipe

1 onion chopped, 2 tsp chop garlic, 1 1/2 plumb puree (from brunch), 6 dried chilies seed removed, 1/2 cup pineapple juice (optional), 1 cup water, 2TB brown sugar, 3TB honey, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 TB tomato paste, 4 cup chop tomato, 2 lime juiced, 1 1/2 cup chicken stock, Sautee onion and garlic in heavy bottom rondo. Add all other ingredients and cook 2 hours until soft. Remove chilies and drain out any other liquid, set aside. Blend all ingredients together using liquid to adjust consistency. The plum mix will become almost reduced to a candy consistency. Season and cool. Used on spare ribs.

Qoinio cake recipe SIP

Cook 1 pint qoinio and cool, add to a large mixing bowl with, 4 eggs, 1 cup bread crumb 2 TB chop parsley 1 cup goat cheese mix all together and season well. Portion accordingly.

SIP Lentil Soup base

4TB butter, 1TB Oil, 1 onion, diced brunoise, 1 carrot, divced brunoise, 4 stalk celery wash and diced brunoise, 3 garlic mince, 1 1/2 cup green lentil, 1/2 bottle white wine, 28 cup light chicken or vegetables stock, After all vegetables are brunoise, sweat vegetables in the butter and oil. Once vegetables are soft, no color add white wine and reduced to sec. Add lentils and cook 5 minutes. Add stock and simmer for 2 hours until soft. Use parchment paper lid. Season with lots of salt and pepper as well as fresh butter, 1/2lb. Cool in ice bath. Served with wild rice, garlic aoili and crostini.

SIP Goat cheese vinaigrette recipe

4TB OLIVE OIL 2 tsp GARLIC MINCED 2 LEMON JUICED 4TB BALSAMIC VINEGAR 4TB OLIVE OIL 4TB GOAT CHEESE Sweat garlic till soft and cool. Place all ingredients in vita prep except the last 4TB olive oil. Slowly add oil until emulsified. Season salt and pepper. Cool and place in squeeze bottle.

SIP Grits/Cheddar flavored

6 cups water;
1 and 1/2 cup white instant;
1tsp Salt;
Fresh cheddar to taste(roughly 1/4lb);
1/2lb fresh butter;

Bring water and salt to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer.
Slowly wisk in grits constantly stirring.
Cook slowly 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and fold in butter and cheese.  If you do this over high heat or re heat to quickly the butter and cheese fats will break so make note to go slowly.
Season salt and pepper and keep warm in a double boiler with paper or plastic wrap on top.

SIP Butternut Squash soup / puree

Makes 3 quarts to 4
3 butternut squash halved with seeds removed, scored 1/8th in deep back and forth;
1lb fresh unsalted butter;
4TB plain oil;
2 spanish onions, peeled and diced;
2 shallots sliced thick;
4 garlic cloves smashed;
1 cup white wine;
2 TB  yellow curry powder;
Water, Coconut milk, Chicken stock (light) to cover as needed;
(You may also add an orange if desired durring the second half of cooking.)
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees
Lightly oil a large sheet tray and place squash cut side up.
Lightly brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place 1 TB butter in each hollowed out section along with brown sugar.
Cover with aluminum foul and bake 1 hour or until almost softened. Remove foil and continue to roast until finished.   Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile,  2 spanish onions  large dice, 2 shallots sliced thick, 4 cloves garlic crushed.  Sautee in 1/2 lb butter and 1 TB oil.  Once clear add 2 TB yellow curry and cook until fragrant.  Add 1 cup  white wine and reduce to sec.  Set aside.  Take squash and scoop off all flesh.  Making sure to save all liquids from roasting pan.  Add squash and juices to pot with onion mix and cook until heated through.  Add water or stock for consistency and bring to a simmer and cook 2 hours very low heat seasoning while making sure to not let bottom burn.  (Coconut milk and some lemongrass could be added at this point rather than the water or stock ).
Once seasoned remove from heat and run batch through vita prep and then chinoise.
Place in new pot and bring to a simmer once more seasoning to taste.  Finish with fresh butter, 1/4lb.  Cool in ice bath and package accordingly.



..

Chicken thigh confit SIP

Clean chickens leaving the thighs together.   Use bones for stocks and sauces.  Chop off all the knuckles as you do with confit.  Main difference between these two recipes is that the chicken we are not trying to cure.  This is just an option to our surplus of chicken thighs in house.
Place thighs in heavy bottom pot or hotel pan and cover with melted duck fat.  1 whole entire head garlic and half a handful of black peppercorns.   Add one bunch of thyme.  Bring to a very light simmer
and cover with foil tight.  Place in oven and cook 6 hours.  Test by pulling on thigh bone.  If it comes loose  than the confit is finished.
You can also cook these thighs on top of the stove slowly at simmer on plancha or there similar.
When finished let cool in the fat completly.
To finish remove legs from fat and place in a hot oiled sautee pan skin side down.  Cool until skin is crispy, drain off fat and place in hot oven skin side down until heated throughout.
Remove from oven place and clean side towel or paper towel to drain off any excessive fat and oil.  Keep warm until needed.

SIP chicken stock (light)

6 chicken  bodies chopped;
2 carrot peel and chop;
1 parsnip peel and chop;
2 yellow spanish onions peel and chop;
1 bunch  celery (washed) chop;
2 qt mushroom stem;
2 fresh bay leaves torn;
1 bunch parsley;
1 large handful black peppercorns;
1 TB sea salt;
1 TB corriander seed(whole);
1/2 TB fennel seeds;
1 head fennel, fronds set a side;
3 whole shallots;
1 whole garlic head;
1 bunch thyme

Place all ingredients except for dry spices and cover with cold water.  Do not over fill.  Do not use hot or warm water.
Lightly toast spices until fragrant, add salt and then add to stock.
Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Cook 2 hours on small simmer with parchment paper lid.
Pull off fire, add one bunch of thyme, let cool to room temperature and then strain through china cap.
Cool in ice bath, label and date.

*For dark stock roast all ingredients golden brown.  Making  sure to coat bones with oil prior to roasting and scrapping off film.  Save and place in stock.  Do Not roast celery.  Cook 6 to 8 hours, preferably over night.  Strain and follow the last of above.

"Dukkah" Crusted Sea Scallops with parsnips and seasonal mushrooms

Place peeled and largely chopped parsnips in a good quality thick bottomed pan and cover with 40 percent heavy cream, 40 percent milk and 20 percent water.   Cover with parchment lid and cook until soft and process through robot coup.  Use the cooking liquid to get the desired consistency.   Push through chinoise and cool.
for the mushrooms.  Pick out the best looking seasonal mushrooms and clean.  Do not wash.  If they are dirty, use a brush to clean them.
Cut to desired shapes and place aside.   Clean one bunch leeks, using the whites and the light green parts only, slice thin.  About a 6th of an inch.  Wash and dry thoroughly.   Heat some olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and when hot add the mushrooms.   Season without moving the pan.  Once some of the moisture begins the leave the mushrooms add the leeks and lightly sautee until cooked al dente or your desired consistency.   Drain on paper towels and keep warm.
Plating; heat a small amount if the puree and place we on plate  scallops and mushrooms to follow.  Before placing the scallops on plate, lightly brush with a good olive oil and press them into the nut mixture.  For this recipe keep the Dukkah coarsly ground for texture on the scallops.  Season with fresh thyme leaves and preserved lemon or our meyer puree.
For the scallops;
Clean and lightly score/ season good quality diver sea  scallops.  Preferably u-10's.
Sear on both sides until medium rare and set aside to drain.

Dukkah spice mix

Dukkah is an egyptian blend of different spices.  You can use anything from almonds, pistacio's filberts,  cashew, even pine nuts depending on the dish.  Basic recipe;
Makes 2 and 1/4 cups finished "dukkah".
1 cup nuts.
.5 sessame seed
.5 cumminvseed
.5 coriander seed all toasted lightly just until the oil begins to release.
1.0 tsp sea salt
Fresh black  pepper ( to taste)
once all items are cooled, process them by pulsing in robot coup until desired consistency is accomplished.   Chili flakes,  and anything else creative may be added but the above is the original recipe we stick with.

spices

Peppermint extracts, lavendar, ginger plus an extensive amounts of vinegars. ...

Spices

Spices, seasoning, salts, vinegars, and oils

On my way home last night I stopped at this new kitchen store on north avenue right across from the north avenue apple store to kill some time.  Its amazing what we have to work with these days......

friday food

 Roasted squash soup.  Used 2 different squash, acorn and butternut.  Poured table side with creme fraiche and micro mint.
Roasted the squash in oven 350 degrees with brown sugar, cummin and butter.  Made sure to cut in half with the cut side up.  (if you prefer to keep the Original color you should cover with aluminum foil).
Pan seared loup de mer.  Cauliflower puree and veal demi reduction.  Kind of what I was doing at voltaire but with only filet, not 2.  For the puree, half milk half water and simmer with parchment paper lid.
Seared sea scallops with parsnips and meyer lemon puree/vinaigrette. (Same recipe for lemon puree except much looser and "broken")  Roasted pork belly with peas and crispy bacon
/pomme puffs.  Slow roasted salmon with cauliflower and peas with Mint vinaigrette.  Amuse bouche, cured salmon and dill on brie croutons.

granny apples

Haley brought home some apples for dinner tonight.  We used just a little bit of sugar, cinnamon,  and vanilla bean.
420 degrees for 20 minutes, 340 degrees for another 20 minutes.  Let cool before transfering  from pan.  At least 30 minutes to cool so that the sugars can harden.

recipes cont.

From below in more detail. I've always had the idea for this Group of recipes and wanted to try it out. It makes sense to me to make dressings or even bases/finishings for sauces. As mentioned this is an old one but necessary for the others to come from his process. This is ARTICHOKE. 1/3 lb slab bacon. 3 carrot. 2 spanish onion. 1 head celery. Light chicken stock. Light vegetable stock. White wine/ prefer a mineral/earthy based chardonnay or even better yet something a little sweet, a reisling or pinot gris. But be careful to not use to much of the sweeter wines. 2 fennel bulb. 2 parsnip root peeled. 1 case 24ct Artichokes (peeled and prepped for cooking. This is a very important part of the recipe. One must take the time to turn each choke by hand, remove the bitter seeds, and make sure that all the strands from the base are removed. I use a peeler personally at this point. What ever works best for you. Sweat the bacon and root vegetable until clear. Add some toasted Fennel seed, black peppercorns, bay leaf. Add artichokes and cook 5 minutes. Deglaze with wine. Reduce to sec. Add half and half stocks to cover. Parchment paper lid and cook till desired tenderness. I always pull them 20 minutes before they are done so that I can let them cool in the walkin in their juices. This is preferred if time and space allows. once the artichokes are cooked and chilled remove them from the liquid and use accordingly. For our purposes we want the artichoke broth. Bring back to a boil and strain through a chinois. In a separate clean heavy bottom rondo sweat out some more root vegetables and dry spices accordingly to what flavor your anticipating. Personally im going for straight up artichoke with the background of bacon and wine minerals. Once your vegetables are clear deglaze with white wine and reduce to sec. Add artichoke broth and SLOWLY reduce by half. Make sure to have traditional bouqet with leek leaf and all. Once reduced by half strain through chinois. Cool in ice bath and skim off surface. Bring back to a simmer and add 1/3 total artichoke broth volume of heavy cream. Reduce this by half, again strain, cool, and skim. At this point we should have a very thick jelly like quantity of artichoke and cream reduction. The idea is to use the very minimal amount of cream possible. Its tempting to want to use a whole quart or more to "strech" it out. This is not something that can be streched or short cutted in any way. The end result as you will see is based completly on this theory or process. Whatever you want to call it, ive seen to many guys add 50 percent cream to broth, come out with twice the amount of dressing but wonder why it doesnt taste like artichoke. Very simple, you get what you give. Bring to room temperature and place in vita prep. Slowly emulsify in a good quality olive oil. Use some grape seed or canola oil if your loosing to much flavor. Fresh lemon juice, sea salt and white pepper to taste. Strain through and push through a chinoise into a clean squeeze bottle. "ARTICHOKE DRESSING" is what we have come to. It can be used on any number of dishs as a sauce, we use it on our cold shaved fennel salad as the dressing with the loup de mer in summer time on the coast. Its even been used as a dipping sauce for fried artichokes. (But what a waiste! ) now that we have established this base idea, there are many many directions to go. Its late so we will sleep on it for the night, but this feels like the beginning of something new and unique to use as part of our arsenal in the BOH. Did I mention glazed vegetables???;) .

ideas dressings

Dressings and sauce bases/additions. The idea begins on the artichoke reduction we make when cooking the chokes. Beyond using that reduction for the addition of the mint, ETC for the broth we generally use on the cod dish. It would be taking that broth base and reducing it beyond broth into or around the world of "sec". Letting it cool and then emulsifying with some good quality olive oil and grapeseed oil to control the flavor. Season lots lemon, salt and pepper. The result is a artichoke dressing. Ill try to start a recipe later but where im going with this is a variety of different dressings, but real. Almost anything we braze or even glaze could possibly be an option....

August 2014

So getting back into things there are going to be lots of questions to ask. What kind of kitchen and what direction to go on are the main ones. But also deciding what kind of roll I want to be involved in as well. The next couple weeks will be a lot of recipe's from memory, in fact that's all I hope to be publishing. Recipe's and ideas from memory, post them and then constitute some sort of "menu" or list, of ones to work on or develope. Even if the "ideas" aren't going to be utilized immediatly and they probably won't be, its still good for us to try and remember what dish's we loved and which ones we hoped to love. Keeping things simple, when working with proteins, making sure that once the protein is chossen, before going on to the rest of the plate, deciding how we want to prepare them and how, with what seasonings and what methods. Once that's decided we can figure out what to serve , if with anything at all with them. Example would be ducks. If we are going to be buying whole ducks we will want to figure out the leg and breast prep. Before moving or going to sauces etc, we will get the leg cure together, the breast prep and seasoning together as well. Hoping that by doing this we can keep things simple and get back to basics. Rather than trying to invent absolute new processe's rather try to refine the ones that we have to an absolute. We can leave the new age gastro designing to the other guys, go out and try their food while doing ours. And I'm okay with that.

back to ideas... tomato broth for bass

Tomato/and or saffron broth with white rice seasoned with coconut milk. Also a slow dried tomato on top of the rice that we will re constitute or bring to temp with some of the reduced tomato broth. Did this with black bass filets but maybe we will try something new.

Braised Striped Bass

Original recipe. We have used wild striped bass almost always for this dish. Serves 6ppl. For the broth: 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced  1 small carrot, peeled and sliced  1/2 fennel bulb, cored and sliced  1 celery stalk, sliced  1 shallot, peeled and sliced  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper  1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted  1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted  1 cup dry white wine  1 cup white wine vinegar  1 quart fumet  3 sprigs fresh thyme  1 bay leaf  3 sprigs fresh tarragon  1 sprig fresh rosemary  For the bass: 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper  6 6-ounce, skin-on striped bass fillets (about 1 1/4 inches thick)  3 sprigs fresh thyme, plus additional for garnish if desired  PREPARATION: For the broth: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, fennel, celery, and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Sweat the vegetables until they are soft, about 20 minutes. Add the coriander and fennel seeds, wine, and vinegar and simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the fumet, 1 cup water, the thyme, bay leaf, tarragon, and rosemary. Simmer until the flavors in the broth blend, about 15 minutes; set aside to cool.  For the bass: Divide the oil between two large skillets and heat over medium. Salt and pepper the fish and add it, skin side down, to the skillet. Add the thyme and cook until the skin is crisp, about 6 minutes. Turn the fish, then ladle two cups of the broth with vegetables into each skillet, reserving the remainder. Bring the broth to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer the bass until it is opaque throughout, about 5 minutes more.  To serve: Bring the reserved broth to a simmer, then ladle it into warm shallow bowls. Place a piece of fish in each bowl, garnish with fresh thyme, if desired, and serve. 

upcoming spring menu and ideas for the bistro

Golden raisin puree Garlic puree(confit) Sous vide duck breast with dry spice rub Revisit pork dish Roasted vegetables roulade Glaze for duck? Honey and truffles? Lamb rack setup.

sherry vinaigrettte/gastrique

Using for lamb rack, duck leg confit. Works well with very fatty proteins. 1 cup sugar 1 cup sherry vinegar 2 shallot brunoise 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced Lamb, duck etc stock-3 qts Unsalted butter, 1tb Place sugar in heavy bottom pot and slowly bringa light caramel color. The darker the sugar becomes the more bitter the sauce will be. Once the sugar is ready, add vinegar. Let dissolve and then reduce by 3/4's. Add shallots, garlic and stock. Reduced to desired consistency. Pull off fire and add butter. Cool slightly.

bistro ideas and thoughts for the weekend

Loup de mer, or bronzino as most call it. Nice fish, 1 and 1/4's,we are scalling and filleting all. Sear skin side down, once cooked drained onto paper towels. To plate, we call it the sandwich, its not aall but it is to us. Place one filet skin side down on seving plate. Spread a layer of parsnip puree and then place on top of that the saiuteed brocolli rabe. Finally rhe last fillet skin side up of course. Deglaze pan with fresh lemon, shallot, garlic, white wine, and butter till colored appropriate. Parsley and cummin. We will tru out the pork chops tomorrow service.

apple fritters

2 recipe for apple fritters: Number 1;1 cup cake flour 1 TB sugar 3/4tsp baking powder 1/4tsp salt 1 egg 1/3cup whole milk 4tsp butter, melted 1TB orange juice 2tsp grated orange peel 1/4 tsp vanilla extract if not using beans 3/4 cup chopped peeled tart apple Fryer oil Mix all dry and mix all wet seperatly. Fold together than fold in apples. Fry at 375 degrees. Drain on towel. Number 2: 1 cup ap flour 1/3 cup sugar 1tsp baking powder Pinch salt 1tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp vanilla 1TB melt butter 1 egg 1/3 cup milk plus more if needed 1 and 1/2 cup chopped(diced apple) Heat oil. Meanwhile, mix all dry and wet seperaly. Gently fold together than in the apple. Do not overmix. Fry and let drain on paper towels.

ideas for and about double cut pork chop, sous vide method for bistro saturday eve

Pork. Roast in pan, de glaze with chicken stock, soy sauce and worchestire. Stir in apricot preserves or maybe the figs reconstituted or the fig/sesame. Sous vide double cuts To serve 2ppl: 1 double cut, bone in about 1 and 1/4lb. Kosher salt and fresh pepper 1TB canola or vegetable oil 2TB unsalt butter Sous vide to 135. I'm going to look and see what we are doing the tenderloins at as it should be around the same. 135 is mr, 140 is medium. Cook for minimum 45 minutes, up to 4 hours. Anything after 4 hours and the proteins begin to break down. Not good. Remove from water and either pat dry and season/sear immediatly or place in an ice bath(while still sealed in bag) to cool down quickly. Sear in oil, butter or a mix roughly 4miniutes on each side, even the outer sides. Let meat rest and either serve whole, or slice and serve. We did a pork porter house before, I'm thinking we will use the above method this time though. As for the rest of the plate... Apple fritters? Apple "demi"? Demi is as follows: 4 shallot peeled and slice thin 4 apples, peeled and cut into half moons 1 cup good quality brandy 1 cup good quality apple cider 1 quart medium pork stock 1/2TB veal demi In rondo melt several tablespoons butter. Add the shallots and cook, no color. Add thr apples and cook until warmed through. Add brandy and burn off liquer, and reduce. Add cider, cook down, all down to almost non then add pork jus and reduce to consistency. Demi to finish. Don't think we are going to us the above sauce, going to go with the figs and sesame idea. The fritter? I'm gonna try it. 5small apple, diced(do not put in water) 3 cups flour 3TB baking powder 1tsp salt 1/2 cup sugar 2tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 4 eggs whipped 12 fluid oz buttermilk(I think it says 12, its either 12 fluid oz or 2 so we will go with the 12) 4 fluid oz apple cider Place all dry in bowl. Mix eggs, buttermilk and cider in another bowl. Fold together. Fold in apples. Use dessert spoon or a fork into hot 350 degree oil till golden brown. Remember is they are to thick they will not cook nicely. Original recipe said on the fritter batter be very careful to not overwork.

Mussels classic recipe (french)

Mussels a la Mariniere This is just classic french recipe, excellent for the bistro. Ingredients 3 1/2 to 4 lb. mussels, well scrubbed and debearded 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 1/4 cup minced shallots 1 small bay leaf 1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme 1 cup dry white wine 4 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Crusty French bread for serving Directions Discard any mussels that do not close to the touch. In a large pot or mussel pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the bay leaf, thyme and wine, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for about 2 minutes. If using a regular pot, add the mussels. If using a mussel pot, place the wire grate in the pot and add the mussels. Scatter the parsley over the mussels and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, shaking the pot once or twice, until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened.

Frisse salad version 1

Salade Frisée aux Lardons Version 2: Ingredients 1 cup cubed coarse country bread (1-inch cubes) 1 1⁄2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 3⁄4 lb. thick-cut bacon, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces 2 shallots, finely chopped 5 Tbs. red wine vinegar 1 tsp. white wine vinegar 4 eggs 2 heads frisée, cored and leaves torn into  3-inch pieces Directions Preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast in the oven, turning once or twice, until golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside. In a fry pan over medium-high heat, sauté the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the shallots and sauté until softened, about 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm. Pour 6 cups water into a large, deep fry pan or wide saucepan and add 1 tsp. salt and the white wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium to maintain a gentle simmer. Break 1 egg into a ramekin and slide it carefully into the simmering water. Working quickly, repeat with the remaining 3 eggs. Carefully spoon the simmering water over the eggs until the whites are just opaque and firm and the yolks are still soft, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a plate and set aside. In a large salad bowl, combine the croutons and the frisée. Pour the warm dressing with the bacon pieces over the salad and toss to coat evenly. Divide the salad among shallow individual bowls, making sure there is an equal amount of bacon in each serving. Place a poached egg on top of each salad and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Gougeres recipe's, my new project finding the best

Yields: 36 gougeres Prep time: 30 min Cook time: 20 min Ingredients: 1 cup bread flour* 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, optional 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large room temperature eggs, beaten 2 room temperature egg whites** 3 1/2 ounces of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 3/4 cup (about 3 ounces) freshly grated Gruyere Cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano) 1 cup water Egg Glaze (optional) Coarse salt (fleur de sel or kosher salt), to sprinkle on top * Bread flour is a high-protein flour. The high protein gives you more gluten and structure and helps the cream puffs rise. All-purpose flour may be substituted but the results won't be as spectacular.  ** The egg whites help the puffs to be more dry inside. Preparation: Preheat oven to 420 degrees F. Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or with the non-stick baking mat. NOTE: Do not grease the baking sheet, as the grease will cause the dough to flatten. NOTE: Prepare all your ingredients in advance, as preparation will go quickly once you start cooking. This is called Mise en Place - What Is A Recipe. In a small bowl, combine flour, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, add eggs and egg whites; Whisk until mixed together; set aside. Cut up butter into small pieces; set aside. Grate Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses; set aside. In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the water and butter; bring mixture to a full rolling boil (make sure the butter has all melted). Remove pan from the heat and add flour mixture all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until blended. NOTE: The flour absorbs the liquid rapidly, and must be mixed thoroughly until there are no lumps left. Reduce heat to medium; return pan to heat and continue stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball, stir approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute to evaporate excess moisture. Remove from heat and transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer. Using your mixer with the paddle attachment, mix at low speed until the dough has cooled slightly. It should be about 140 degrees F. (use your digital thermometer to test the dough). At medium speed, beat the eggs/egg whites mixture in a little at a time. Add no more than a quarter of the eggs at once; wait until eggs are completely absorbed before adding more (at first the eggs will act like they don't want to mix in, but they will). When all the eggs are absorbed, the dough is ready to use. The dough should be soft and a little sticky, but be able to hold its shape. Stir in the grated Gruyere and parmesan cheeses until well incorporated Time to make the gougeres. Following are some of the different techniques that people use to form the balls.  Using two teaspoons: With one spoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons for a cocktail-size puff (walnut size). With other spoon, push batter off first spoon and drop in a mound onto prepared baking sheet. Using plastic bag: Place dough into bag. Cut the end off one corner with scissors, to make an opening about 1/4 inch. Squeeze the mixture onto the pans. Cookie scoops: Cookie scoops can also be used. Using pastry bag: Put a 1/4-inch star tip into your pastry bag. Fill the bag with the dough. Squeeze the dough out in a circle motion to create small silver dollar-sized circles. Finger and spoon: This is how I do it. It is easy and goes fast. Leave about 2 inches between each gougères on the baking sheet, as the mixture will spread during baking. Don't worry if they don't look neat, they tend to round out as they rise in the oven. NOTE: to smooth out any parts that stick up when you squeeze out the dough, just wet your finger in water or milk and smooth out. When gougères are ready to bake, sprinkle a few some coarse salt on top of each gougère. Bake for a total of about 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through (switch pans so the top one is on the bottom rack and vice versa). Do not overcook the gougères, they are better when slightly undercooked. Remove from oven, using a thin spatula remove from baking sheet, and let cool slightly before serving. Makes approximately 36 gougères.   NOTES: The dough can be prepared 2 to 3 hours in advance. Make the dough balls, cover, and refrigerate. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator, and bake them into a pre-heated oven. The dough may be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. When ready to use, remove from refrigerator, make balls, and then bake in a pre-heated oven. You may also bake and freeze them. Thaw at room temperature and refresh in a 350° F. oven for about 10 minutes. For best results, use puffs with 24 hours, or wrap airtight and freeze. If you're making and baking gougères ahead of time, poke the bottoms after you remove them from the oven, turn upside down, and let dry out on the baking sheet. Gougère are easy to travel with to. You can bring them to a dinner party and re-heat them (5 minutes at 350 degree F.) on a baking sheet when you arrive. Blue Cheese or Cheddar Cheese may be substituted for the Gruyere cheese. Actually any hard cheese may be substituted.  

MAKES ABOUT  2½ DOZEN INGREDIENTS ½ cup milk 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed ½ tsp. kosher salt 1 cup flour 4 eggs, at room temperature 6 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated INSTRUCTIONS 1. Heat oven to 425°. Bring milk, butter, salt, and ½ cup water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan over high heat. Add flour; stir until dough forms. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring dough constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly dried, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; using a hand mixer, beat in 1 egg until smooth. Repeat with remaining eggs, beating each one at a time, until dough is smooth; stir in cheese. 2. Using a large tablespoon, drop balls of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Place in oven; reduce temperature to 375°. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

lemon / pudding cake's

Lemon "pudding" cake (serves 8 -6oz servings). We ran this today as a test run, comes out great. Necessary to bake them in some sort of ceramic mold, metal ones will not work. Also, place a towel under the ceramic molds to help distribute more of the heat. The idea is to have a layer of a lemon "pudding"(curd) and a layer of cake that's very light. Preheat oven to 325 degree's. Soft butter for ramekins. 1 cup buttermilk. 1/4 lemon juice. 4 large eggs(seperated). 1/4 cup + 1TB A.P. Flour. 3/4 cup + 1TB sugar. Pinch of salt. 2 lemons zest. Preserves to garnish in original recipe. Butter and sugar the ramekins. Place ramekins in a hotel pan with a kitchen towel in between the them. Set aside. In a bowl, mix the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar and salt. Rub the zest into the flour mix. Set aside. Wisk together the buttermilk, lemon juice and egg yolks. Set aside. Beat egg whites with 1TB sugar until soft peaks form. (Do not over beat or the finished curd will be grainy). Add the flour mix to the buttermilk mix. Wisk until smooth. Add the egg whites in 3 batches, being careful to not over mix. Laddle the mix into the prepared ramekins. Fill roast pan with warm water 1/2 way up the side or ramekins. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes and then remove the foil. Bake for another 20 minutes until cake rises and is golden brown. Remove and let cool. Best served warm, we do them room temperature, but can also be served cold.

tangerine vinaigrette recipe

4 cup fresh tangerine juice 2TB sherry vinegar 1TB dijon mustard 1TB honey 1/8tsp chili powder(original calls for 1/4 tsp arbol chili powder.) 1/2 cup good quality olive oil(we use canola) Salt, pepper, sugar to taiste. In a heavy bottom sauce pan reduce the tangerine juice by 1/2. Keep reducing till reduced to about 1/4 cup, becomes a thick syrup. In blender combine the syrup, vinegar, mustard, honey and chili powder. Blend for 30 seconds. Slowly add olive oil to make an emulsion and season. Let come to room temperature and place in squeeze bottle or quart container with spoon. Going to use this on our salmon dish tonight.

Cheese cake, peanut and maple

Cheese cake: Caramel-Peanut (Original asked for some english oat wafers. As its for the crust, we went with something a little more "known". Vanilla wafers-300 gram Butter(melted)-240 gram Condensed Milk-150 gram Peanut butter-80 gram Gold Maple syrup(good quality)-70 gram Creme cheese (softened)-300 gram Whipping cream-320 gram Seperated 180 grams of the butter and mix with the wafers. (The waffers should first be pulsed in the robot coux for a texture close to Panko). Press into prepared molds and refrigerate for 1 hour. In a seperate heavy bottom pot, melt remaining butter, peanut butter, syrup and milk. Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Once cooked, pour into a new bowl and leave to come down to room temperature. Then fold into creme cheese that's been softened. Mean while whip The cream until soft peaks form. Slowly and gently fold into creme cheese mix in 3 turns. Pipe into molds and chill 2 hours. (Make sure the mold is buttered properly. We also use some cling wrap around because the butter alone only becomes hard and stuck to the mix. After the mix is piped in and chilled, add in a seperate bag or spoon, a mix of peanut butter and creme that has been heated to the consistency to pour. Finally, after 30 minutes place a thin layer of the leftover plain vanilla waffers. Serve with appropriate sides. This recipe is great because it is not necessary to "cook" in the traditional way, and also the consistency of the "cheesecake is much lighter.

prep for January 2nd

For this week, new year: Prep lists for hot and cold/ new sautee add for cooks in dish. No response unless resume/update version and cover letter are included. Back room organize. Trash recepticles, remove from kitchen. Fix soap in kitchen Install towel for sink area. Check in Linen delivery. Speak to ned about pants and shirts. Also, inventory on all boh towels. White and blue. Downstairs dry storage area. Escargot recipe for Armando Loup de mer: roast whole in a salt crust. ??? For the lemon puree: Water, lemon, sugar and champagne vinegar. Then puree with olive oil. We left out the vinegar tuesday night and that's why it didn't taste correct. Sea scallop with cauliflower and meyer lemon Bass or fish special with artichoke, shellfish(clam, mussel, cockle) sunchoke if no artichoke, used parsnip dice, asparagus, mint chiffonade. Truffle is another possibility. Chopped black truffle peels or pieces. Check duck for leg cure and breast entree, carrot, vanilla bean and orange gastrique. Soup prep: Carrot and Onion Cheese cakes? Coq au vin prep/cook New brussels, 1/2 thirds, other leaves. Demi(redwine) reduction Grill/plancha Gnocchi recipe with the thyme and butter and PARSNIP round chips to finish with fresh thyme leaves and chive New pearl onion, carrot, parsnip, bacon and mushrooms for coq au vin. +talk about new chicken dish. Roast breast, confit thigh. Potatoes anna Truffle honey for duck glaze Hot line prep: Pepper corn sauce, green Salmon base reduction Check cauli and parsnip puree. Truffle froth for pork Cheesecake misen place Crab legs and claws in walkin Sea scallops, other ideas: Potato pancakes, sundried tomatoes and thai basil hollandaise. Gribiche sauce. Citrus on scallops, orange, grapefruit, clemintines, etc. Yuzu kosho: japanese chile sauce: 1 cup lime zest 2TB lemon zest 2 TB grapefruit zest 1 tsp salt 2TB grapefruit juice 2TB yuzu juice 1 green thai chili, no seed minced 2 tsp lime juice Sugar Sea scallops with red yuzu kosho and citrus. Garde manager: Clean and arrange/stock all plastic shelves. Fix shelf at pass, lower 1. Water bath, find new location Leeks oil Thyme oil Desserts Apple reduc? Crab sauce? Bacon lardons. Check and count fish in box Clementines and leeks for salmon. Clean and portion salmon Repack herbs and re count Order for friday Check puff pastry CAVIAR from new year eve. Dijon vin for garde. 1TB lemon juice 1tsp dijon 1TB white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove mined 1/2 cup olive oil Sea salt and fresh black pepper Mix all ingredients except oil which you emulsify at the end. Roasted shallot(confit) vinaigrette: Need recipe from house. Idea is to confit the shallots in neutral oil till completly soft. Covered. Let cool and thenstrain, reserve all oil. Vita mix shallots with vinegar, sherry I think would be nice. Salt, lots fresh black peppercorns. Emulsify in cooking oil. Probably sugar as well, and could put a clove of garlic in with the confit for some more depth. NO raw garlic. No mushroom tart. Check apple tarts Freezer at garde manager and measure of other low boys and prep tables. Potatoes puree, needs nutmeg Meat and cheese board? Desserts: apple, choclate, vanilla bean and cheesecake Check frisee Use old cucumbers