Summer Break

Sadly my summer break is coming to an end. I don't have much to say about it except all the stuff I cooked. I still have a week left, I don't know how much food I'm going to make. Amanda wants me to make a swirl of red and yellow roasted pepper soup for her. So far I made a

a soft-ripened cheese plate with a
Sweet Onion-Lemon Compote
Pickled Cherries and a
Brut Grapefruit Bellini

I love bellini's and this one was perfect for the hot summer day. I added just a tiny amount of grapefruit juice with a grapefruit supreme in the glass, giving it a subtle hint of the fruit that was not in the least bit sweet. The cherries were sweet-pickled with rice vinegar, salt, water and sugar.

Sweet Onion-Lemon Compote
1 large sweet onion (walla walla, vidalia, texas 1015 etc.)
1 lemon
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
4 Tbs butter

Julienne the onion. Cut off the peel including the white part. Small dice or julienne the lemon peel. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Sweat the onions, lemon peel, salt and sugar. DO NOT CARMELIZE. Add the white wine and cook covered 45-60 minutes until onions are very tender. It might be necessary to add more water from time to time.

Gnocchi with Braised Oxtail
Corriander-Apple Turkey Burgers with Carmelized Onions and Apricot Chutney
Spicy Garlic-Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Rice.
Sweet Potato-Vanilla Bean Souffle
Rotisserie Chicken with Walnut-Glazed Celeriac and Braised Kale
Tapenade Pizza with Smoked Tomatoes and Basil
Crème de Potage d'Aubergine

I had some fun with coconuts and bananas. Banana muffins with dark rum and chocolate chips were pretty good, but the baked banana pudding with a coconut whipped topping and ginger sorbet was better. This was inspired by a desert served at monsoon restaurant in nyc. The recipe is below.

I got a ton of apricots one day and made a Vanilla-Apricot Custard by poaching the apricots in a vanilla cream and pureeing it. I served this with a baked apricot, apricot marmalade and a scoop of almond ice cream on top. Idea courtesy of Daniel Boulud.

Recently I've been smoking a lot (food of course, jeez!). There were ups and downs.

Smoked Salmon with a Glaze made from Cognac and Figs
Smoked Sea Bass with Lemony Kalamata Tapenade
Smoked Scallops with a light Dijon-Mint Cream sauce
Smoky Salsa

Smoky Salsa:
5 medium sized vine-ripened tomatoes, blanched and peeled
1/4 sweet onion, sliced
2 Jalepenos, seeds and ribs removed
juice from 1/2 lime
1 Tbs chipotle with adobo
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, stem end removed

Smoke the tomatoes, onions, jalepenos and garlic. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse to desired consistency. Allow to steep in the fridge for a day before serving.

Banana Pudding with Coconut Topping and Ginger Sorbet

Banana Pudding
5 ripe bananas
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup dark rum
1 egg
5 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 275. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Corsely mash the bananas in the mixture. Pour into an appropriately sized baking dish. Cook until custard has set, about 45 min. Serve warm or room temp.

Coconut Frosting
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp dark rum
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Allow the coconut milk to sit undisturbed so it separates. Carefully remove the thick cream without any of the water. Combine the coconut cream and rum in a stand mixer. Whip the sugar in until sweetened to desired amount. Refrigerate immediately.

Ginger Sorbet
1/2# ginger root
simple syrup
1 T light corn syrup
water

Peel the ginger and puree in a food processor with water as needed. Wring out the mixture using cheesecloth. Bring the mixture to a simmer in a small saucepan, skimming as necessary. Reduce the mixture slightly. You should have about half a cup. Add the corn syrup and simple syrup. Mixture should be very sweet. Chill thoroughly and churn in an ice cream maker.

To plate: Cut a square of the banana pudding out and cover with a layer of coconut frosting. Top with a scoop of ginger sorbet.