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Showing posts from June, 2009

Prosciutto Wrapped Veal with Asparagus

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I wrapped this bite of veal in Prosciutto ham and gave it a nice sear. I then made a mushroom ragout with tiny diced portobella mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and deglazed with a Chardonnay and stewed with a beautiful veal demi -glace. I used the peelings from asparagus and fried them to make a nice "bed" for the amuse. A simple brunoise of red bell pepper gives a nice visual contrast to the dish. Seafood buffet ususally kills most of our ala carte business, but I hope to share this veal dish with a few lucky guests tonight.

Chimichurri Beef Tenderloin Amuse

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A sort of knock-off of my lunch steak sandwich, this amuse has a ton of flavor. I cubed some beef tenderloin, rubbed it with garlic and cumin, then grilled it. Then I took our version of chimichurri (with cilantro and pepitas ) topped the beef and finished it in the oven. It is cooked to a nice medium, which takes no time due to the size of the portion. A simple sourdough crostini , mango pico de gallo and an avocado puree round of this one bite course.

Lychee

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I picked these lychee up at the large Asian market near my house. Lychee is a fruit native to south China. There are several different types of lychee , also spelled litchi, leechee , and a few others spellings. Most have a somewhat spiny, tough yet thin skin that varies in color from bright reds, to greens and yellows. The fruit has a hard seed in the center which pulls from the flesh fairly easily. The juicy aromatic flesh usually has an opaque whitish pinkish appearance . It has a similar texture to grapes I recall eating off the vine at my grandparents years ago. Lychee is low in saturated fat, very low in cholesterol and sodium, and is a very good source of copper and vitamin C (40% more than an orange). It has higher levels of Beta carotene than carrots. It is said to enhance the feeling of well-being and is said to prevent blood clots, severe cell damage and reduce strokes, up to 50 %, in heart patients.

Colorado Gravlox

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I decided to do my own spin on gravlox . I cured the salmon with cumin, lime zest, cilantro, chili powder, tequila, coriander and garlic along with the salt and sugar. It probably cured a little long, but the consistency was nice. I diced the salmon and mixed it with a fresh mango pico de gallo . I used the pomegranate caviar from my last post as a garnish for this amuse- bouche .

Pomegranate "Caviar" using Geletin

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I ran into the problem of having to come up with an alternative for pomegranate seeds for a relish today. I got online and found a recipe for making pomegranate caviar from gelatin rather than the sodium alginate and calcium chloride method. These are a little more firm than using the spherephication method, but works well since the dish require they be tossed with other ingredients before serving. The method consists of blooming the powdered gelatin (3tsp) with cold water (4Tbs). I then added heated pomegranate juice (3 oz) to the gelatin mixture and poured it into a squeeze bottle. I then dripped the mixture into chilled olive oil ( grape seed oil works well with pomegranate). After just a moment the liquid firms up and simply straining the caviar from the oil finishes this component. It has held its shape now for several hours.

Everyday Issues

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Here is what we encounter on a daily basis. The picture on the left is of the resorts lake and golf course at about 3pm today. It looks like a lovely day to be out golfing or BBQing right? Well we do in fact have a party that plans to be outdoors at 6pm tonight, and if you look 90 degrees to the right of picture number one, at the same time the right photo what you would see. Now of course we have an indoor back-up plan, but setting up both places requires breaking down both places. We want nothing more that perfect weather for these groups, but mother nature tends to tease us into believing the weather will cooperate. Maybe this threatening looking cloud with just pass on by and by 6 the sky will once again be clear. My guess is that the party will be having an indoor BBQ tonight .

Chili Marinated Monkfish with Sauteed Plantains And Pineapple-Rum Sauce

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With a case of plantains just asking to be used and some leftover Monkfish , I threw together this amuse. I marinated the Monkfish in a chili oil, added a bit of garlic and grilled it. I made a simple pineapple -rum sauce with some shallots and a touch of stock. The green is a poblano puree which also has a strong, crisp cilantro flavor to mellow the pepper flavor. I sauteed the diced plantains with nothing more than diced onion with salt and pepper. This amuse does its job well. The one bite leaves your mouth watering for more. All in all it is a very South American style dish to start off your dinner.