Coursed Dinner Party Menu, December 30th

 

 

 

Tentative Menu

 

 

Caramelized Celery Root Pave, Lemoncello Cured Salmon

 

This amuse course should be fun, a faux custard of blanc cooked celery root, pureed & strained overnight in cheesecloth.  Finished with yuzu juice.  The salmon will be cured with kosher salt & brown sugar overnight and then basted with meyer lemon infused vodka until a pellicle is formed.  I'm planning on brulee-ing the top of the pave served in black miso spoons and garnishing the top with the thinly sliced gravlax.
 

Foie Gras & Chestnut Soup, Seared Foie Gras Awesomeness

 

Soup course of course!  Onion, garlic sweated in butter (lard or bacon fat, kinda waffling on this), white wine & a touch of sherry, chestnuts, orange zest, chicken or duck stock, cream.  Finished with foie gras butter (3:1 butter to passed liver scrap, keeps from curdling) & sherry vinegar.  Served in mini 4 oz. soup cups with a metal fleur de lys skewer holding a seared piece of foie gras over the top.  Decadent, maybe.  Tasty, damn right!  My homage to the late, great Jean-Louis Palladin.

 

Lobster Custard Timbale, Vanilla & Star Anise Scented Root Vegetables, Beet Emulsion

 

1/2 quart of cream : 4 whole eggs.  Buttered timbale molds, parchment round in the bottom.  Cooked, diced lobster, dried on towel before folding into the custard.  Season with salt, pepper & herbs as necessary.  Cook in water bath in 300* oven until set.  Chill overnight, run paring knife around edges and unmold.  Star anise & vanilla bean oil just infused for a few weeks (grapeseed or neutral oil preferred).  Thinking a mix of fun root veggies, whatever I find at the market or through Tom Cornille if I can fit in a visit.  For the Beet Emulsion, cooked red beet pureed with some balsamic & sherry vinegars and some nice extra virgin olive oil.  Might garnish the top with something crispy, a beet, lotus root chip or fried leeks.     

 

 Poussin, Citrus Cous Cous Cake, Baby Carrot, Blueberry Jus

 

This is the course that's most likely to change depending on what I can get my grubby little mits on.  [Insert diabolical laughter here.]  Any game bird that I can find fresh, poussin (baby chicken), squab, pheasant or duck in a pinch.  If poussin, I'm planning on removing the breast & thighs from the carcass and cooking them seperately, confiting the thighs and roasting the breasts.  The carcass will be roasted for the jus, which will be finished with syrup reconstituted dried blueberries & foie gras butter.  The cous cous will be cooked in orange juice & chicken stock, drained without rinsing onto a sheet pan, frozen, cut into shape, and then egged breaded and pan fried to golden sweetness.  The baby carrots will be treated with love and affection, and some charred orange may make an appearance.  'Cuz that's how I roll, guy.   

 

Roquefort, Aerated Dark Chocolate, Candied Cilantro

 

Sound strange?  It isn't.  Blue cheese, chocolate & cilantro are wickedly awesome together.  Just ask Chef Don Yamauchi who first introduced the combo to me back at Le Francais.  I've changed it to a more contemporary take, by aerating the chocolate.  To aerate chocolate, first temper dark chocolate and pour into an Issi.  Charge with two cartridges.  Shoot chocolate into a metal 3rd or 1/2 pan and put into a cryovac machine, *uncovered*, and run the machine until the mix almost overflows the pan.  Repeat a few times and then freeze to set the mix.  This causes the chocolate to take on tons of tiny air bubbles, almost making a solid mousse without cream or eggs.  The candied cilantro with be done up with lightly frothed egg white and caster sugar.  The blue cheese will be the best I can find, tempered to room temperature, of course.

 

Rose Touched Creme Brulee, Currant

 

I found a recipe for rose creme brulee in a French cookbook by Joel Robuchon called Facile.  I'm planning on adapting Le Titi de Paris' old creme brulee recipe to include rose instead of vanilla notes.  Currants are the fruit of choice, but if something else catches my attention, this is apt to change.

 

Mignardises & Coffee

 

Is it only me that wants to pronounce mignardises, MIG-nards?  Planning on coating a foie gras flavored cream cheese with Callebaut dark chocolate.  Or something else you wouldn't normally find filling chocolates.  Any suggestions?

Recipe Foci, Le Titi, Le Francais, Arizona Kitchen

Pistachio Brulee (Le Titi)

500 g. cream, 500 g. milk, 100 g. pistachio paste, 150 g. sugar, 200 g. sugar

 

Duck Liver Flan (Le Titi)

1 onion (chopt & caramelized w/ garlic & cooled), 2 clove garlic, 500 g. duck liver, chicken liver, or foie, 7 eggs, 1200 g. cream, thyme, tarragon, or other herb

Puree w/ stick blender or bar blender, pass though sieve, fill timbales or ramekins, water bath, 325*F oven.

 

Maple Cream  (Le Titi)

250 g. maple syrup, 5 yolks, 50 g. pastry cream powder (sub cornstarch?), ½ L. milk (scalded), 2 gelatin leaf (bloom), 250 g. chopt pecans, 500 g. cream (soft peak)

Maple, yolks, powder.  Temper in milk, whisk in gelatin, cook until thick--- bubbles in middle, cool in ice bath.fold in pecan, then cream.  Set overnite.

 

Fig Ice Cream (Le Titi)

 

1471 g. milk, 142 g. powdered milk, 284 g. cream, 483 g. sugar, 156 g. glucose powder, 1000 g. fig puree, 21 g. IC stabilizer

 

Swiss Meringue (Le Titi)

500 g. sugar (soft ball) : 250 whites  For Chocolate, 35 g. cocoa

 Tartlet Dough (Le Francais)

500 g. softened butter, 50 g. sugar, 12 g. salt, 80 g. water, 2 eggs, 1 K. cake flour

Cream butter, sugar, salt.  Add liquid.  Mix flour little by little.

Raspberry Pate  (Le Titi)

1000 g. raspberry puree, 25 g. pectin, 1140 g. sugar, 320 g. glucose, 15 g. citric acid @ 50% (~8 g. water : 8 g. lemon juice)

Warm puree – mix pectin w/ 25% of the sugar, add to puree.  Boil.  Add glucose & additional sugar – cook to 223 *F.  Remove from heat & whisk in acid.  Pour in ½ sheet pan w/ silpat.  Let set in cooler.

 

Mango Pate (Le Titi)

1000 g. mango puree, 300 g. green apple puree, 1500 g. sugar, 450 g. glucose, 35 g. pectin, 20 g. citric acid (~10 g. water : 10 g. lemon juice)

Same as raspberry pate.

 

Spaetzle (Le Titi)

1# flour, 1 ½ c. milk, 6 eggs (+ or- 1), 2 T. Dijon, 1 T. whole grain mustard, tumeric, 2 T. apple cider vinegar

Looking for the consistency of pate choux w/ initial egg addition.

 

Charred Yellow Tomato Gazpacho (AZK)

1 cs yellow tomato – cored in 1/4s, 5 peeled & deseeded cucumbers, 2 yellow squash, s/p, champagne vinegar, olive oil, Tabasco

Char  tomato (easy under a sally), buzz ingredients and season.

 

Goat Cheese Roulades (AZK)

36 oz. goat cheese, 16 oz. cream cheese, pesto or other filling

Mix cheeses at room temp.  Spray table w/ nonstick.  Parchment.  Spray parchment.  Roll out mix, square off.  Spread pesto/filling.  Roll, freeze to set.

 

Tamales (variation cascabel chile) (AZK)

8 c. masa harina, 8 c. apple juice, 2 T. baking powder, 2 T. salt, 14 T. lard, cascabel chile puree

 

Chipotle Citrus Redux (AZK)

4 gal. OJ, 46 oz. pineapple juice, thyme, oregano, black peppercorns

Redux low heat until thick, up to 8 hours.  Strain and freeze.  Base for dressing – add mayo, sherry vinegar, balsamic, Tabasco, chile powder, brown sugar, cumin, salt and white pepper.

 

Smoked Apple & Lime Dressing (AZK)

1 cs granny smith apples (peel, seed, core), 10 lime’s zest, apple juice

Hot smoke, apples & zest – mesquite.  Buzz w/ juice.  FREEZE.  Add same ingred. as citrus dressing.

 

Crema (AZK)

1 pt heavy cream : 1 pt buttermilk

1 pt. lemon juice to every gallon.  Room temp. for 2 days.

At AZK, added zucchini juice & roasted garlic

 

 

Pork Braise (AZK)

¾ OJ : ¼ Lemon Juice + 1 onion, oregano, achiote paste, garlic

 

Star Anise & Vanilla Bean Oil (AZK)

Toast anise.  10 vanilla beans split.  Grapeseed oil.  Let sit 2 days minimum.

 

Pinion Cream (AZK)

1 gal. cream, 1 onion, garlic, olive oil, oregano, thyme, Madeira, pine nuts

Sweat onion, garlic in oil, deglaze w/ Madeira, au sec, cream, pine nuts.  Reduce.  Buzz. Strain chinnoise.  Season.

 

Smoked Bell Pepper Cream (AZK)

15-20 bell peppers (roast, skinned, deseed, smoke until smells), 1 gal. cream, 1 onion, garlic, olive oil, oregano, thyme, Madeira 

Same procedure as pinion cream, but season w/ Tabasco, chile powder, brown sugar, cumin, and cornstarch if loose.

 

Pomegranate & Molasses Glaze (for squab) (AZK)

Simmer half molasses w/ half pomegranate syrup, whisk in garlic, butter, & salt.

 

Red Chile & Goat Cheese Cream (AZK)

1 gal. cream, 1 onion, garlic, olive oil, oregano, thyme, 1 #10 can diced tomato, 3 New Mexico red chiles, tequila, goat cheese

Same procedure as pinion cream, but season w/ Tabasco, chile powder, brown sugar, cumin and deglaze w/ tequila.  The tomato gets added w/ cream, the goat cheese buzzed in at the end.

 

Gabriel’s “Tempura” Batter

350 g. flour, 60 g. cornstarch, 60 g. baking powder, water, s/p

 

Le Francais’ Meat Temps

115* Rare, 120* MR, 125* M, 130-5* MW, 145-50* Well

 

Bacon & Dijon Dressing (Le Francais)

2 T. shallot, 1 T. garlic, ¼ c. red wine vinegar, 1 kitchen spoon Dijon, 3 yolks, 1 qt. blended oil, bacon fat (sub foie?! J), s/p

Whip by hand, bacon fat last.

 

Champagne Vinaigrette (Le Francais)

3 : 1 Oil to Vinegar + shallot, garlic, sugar, S&P.

 

Fruit Brulee (Le Francais)

250 g. cream, 50 g. milk, 40 g. puree, 50 g. sugar, 2 yolks, 1 egg

 

Vanilla Brulee (Le Francais)

200 g. milk, 100 g. cream, 1 vanilla bean, 50 g. sugar, 5 yolks

 

Lobster Bisque (Le Francais)

6# lobster shells, mir poix + garlic, 2 bay leaf, coriander, tarragon, cracked black pepper, cayenne, ½ c. cream sherry (cheaper), ½ c. brandy, ½ c. white wine, tomato paste, fish stock, duck remoulage, finish with cream.  Pass through china cap, chinnoise, & tammy.

 

Orange & Vodka Sorbet (Le Francais)

2 L. fresh OJ, 350 ml simple syrup, 100 g. sugar, 1 lemon’s juice, 250 ml vodka

 

Tart Dough (Le Francais)

1 K. flour, 700 g. butter, 350 sugar, 3 yolks, 2 T. vanilla, pinch salt, 4 T. cream, zest 1 orange

 

Black Truffle Vinaigrette (Le Francais)

1/3 c. balsamic, ¼ c. sherry vinegar, 1-2 black truffles, 3 c. blended oil, 1-2 oz. black truffle oil, s/p

Blender method.  If you have a really nice EVOO, take out ¼ c. blended oil & add ¼ c. in it’s place at end after the blender.

 

Potato Puree (Le Francais)

6# potato : 2# butter : 1 ½ qt. cream reduced to 1 qt.

Cook potato until nicely done, dry in oven.  Ricer into mixer.  Add other ingredients, season, pass through tammy.

 

White Truffle Potato Soup (Le Francais)

1 onion, ¼ c. sliced garlic, 16 peeled & chopt potato, 3 qt. cream, white truffle oil, s/p

Saute veggies, add cream, add potato, cook until done.  Puree, flavor w/ oil, s/p, pass through chinnoise.

 

Broken Beet Vinaigrette  (Le Francais)

1 boiled or roasted beet, balsamic vinegar, blended oil, EVOO, S/P --- Blender.

 

Brown Butter Emulsion

3 large pots, 4 oz. squab ju or duck stock, ½ # butter, ¼ c. lemon juice

Brown butter in one pot.  Heat ju in other.  Add ju & lemon to browned butter.  Whisk hard through bubbles, when emulsified add to other pot & keep whisking.