Sunday, June 25, 2006

Satan Gave Me a Taco and it Made Me Kind of Sick



I'm stumbling home, battered from the excesses of food and drink after a weekend with Sara and David in Rhinebeck. The following menu speaks for itself.

Anti-pasti Plate
assorted cheeses, watercrackers, artisan bread, proscuitto, red pepper - kalamata tapenade

Asparagus Proscuitto Bundles
baked crispy and sprinkled with parmesan cheese

Mixed Green Salad
spicy anchovy-dijon vinaigrette made with champagne-shallot reduction

Oyster Mushroom - Chevre Ravioli
Served with a garlic brown-butter sauce

Champagne Scallops
Pan-seared with an orange black-pepper sauce

Berries and Cream
minty mascerated berries with hagen-daas vanilla ice cream


The ravioli was amazing but the scallops were the best. By the time we got around to the scallops we were so drunk we didn't know what garlic was going into what and what not; so the preparation is very simple but effective. If you get a good sear on the scallops the fond with give the sauce a beautiful deep orangish-brown color. You could make it more classical by adding a small amount of brown veal stock and shallots after the chamapagne is reduced.

Champagne Scallops

1# large sea scallops
olive oil for sauteeing
salt and corse ground black pepper
1 1/2 c. brut champagne
juice from 1/2 a large orange

Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season the scallops and sear on both sides to a deep golden brown. Deglaze with the champagne and reduce to a medium nappe. Check for seasoning, strain if solids remain. Finish with the black pepper and orange juice. Serve immediately.

Oyster Mushroom- Chevre filling

4 oz cultivated mushrooms (we used oyster and cremini)
4 oz chevre
1/4c. brut champagne or dry sherry
2 large cloves garlic
2 Tbs minced white onion
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 1/2 egg yolks
salt and pepper
olive oil

Chop the mushrooms by hand to a small mince. Sweat the oil in a medium-large pan over low heat. Cook about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another few minutes. Add the mushrooms and wine and cook until all the liquid is reduced down. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Combine the mushroom mix, chevre and egg yolks in a mixing bowl.
We used and herbed store-bought chevre so you might want to add more garlic and misc chopped herbs if using a plain chevre. We also used wonton wrappers from the grocery store, but obviously it would be better with fresh pasta. I would suggest adding the chevre in small amounts to desired consistency because it can over power other flavors. This would make a great duxelle, you could roll it up in a ballotine or use it for stuffed peppers or portobello mushrooms. As far as other pastas go it would probably be a little too intense for a manicotti but it would make a badass veggie lasagna with some tomato sauce. You could do an haute french thing and stuff it inside a boneless chicken wing and use it as a garnish. It's extremely delicious. You might consider omitting the egg yolks depending on the application.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Cucumber-Shiso Shooter


I love cucumbers in the summer. My favorite preparation is the cold soup made with mint and honeydew. This is sort of a simpler version of it. I absolutely love cucumber water, it has an amazing sweet subtlety that is as indescribable as it is refreshing. Paired with the spiced-cured plums it makes a nice aperitif for a hot summer day. I grate the cubcumber into a seive and put it over a bowl to collect the water. You could also puree it altogether with the shiso and strain out the solids to fold into a risotto to finish or something, but I prefer this way. I like using english cucumbers because they have a little sweeter flavor.

Cucumber Shiso Shooters

Cucumber water:
2 large cucumbers
small pinch salt
small pinch sugar
1/4 tsp lemon juice
2 shiso leaves, fine chiffonade plus 2 more for serving

Combine the ingredients in a blender and puree. Serve well chilled.

for the brined plums:
1 large plum, semi-ripe
1 qt water
2 c. salt
1 1/2 Tbs allspice berries
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns

Slice the plum into wedges with the skin on. In a dry skillet heat the spices until fragrant and grind. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or appropriate container and allow to sit at room temperature 24 hours. Serve at this time or refrigerate. Serve room temp.

to make this a little more interesting, shave a 4" piece of daikon radish. Poach until softened in a mixture of 2 parts rice vinegar, 1 part salt, 1/2 part sugar. Puree the cured plums and wrap in the daikon wrapper. With the plum-daikon dumpling you could omit the shot glass entirely and serve the cucumber as the sauce under the ravioli.

For serving:

Serve the cucumber water in a 1 1/2 oz shot glass. Place a whole shiso leaf on a small plate with the shot glass on top. Arrange 2 plum wedges fanning out from the shot glass. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Breakup Brownie Sundae



Both love and desert should be slightly bitter, short lived and served with coffee.


Breakup Brownie Sundae

1/2 c. whole espresso beans
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. water
2 bananas ripe, but still firm
1 T lemon juice
fudge brownies (box or homemade)
zest from one lemon
mocha ice cream


Combine the coffee beans and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 min. Add sugar and simmer another 5 min. Thinly slice the bananas on a bias and toss with lemon juice. Pour the coffee syrup over the bananas and steep 10 min.

Cut the brownies into large squares. Top the brownie with the ice cream, followed by the bananas in syrup and then sprinkle the lemon zest over. Finish with whipped cream if especially broken hearted.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Lamb disclaimer.

Why all the leg of lamb? I don't know. It's fairly cheap, extremely easy, people like it. The more I pull away from leg of lamb the more it pulls me in. To be quite very honest I'm getting a little sick of it.