Quote (Creations @ Mar 15 2016 11:18am)

Lots of new things lately.
I recently left job at the steakhouse and was hired on as a chef at a fine dining restaurant located on a wildlife preserve. It's a farm to table restaurant where everything is locally sourced and all meats, including wild game meats are raised, harvested, and butchered on property. It's a slower pace than what I am used to, but so far I am loving the transition. This is the kind of place that I wanted to be a chef at, so I am thrilled about this opportunity. Awesome FOH and BOH staff, and my line cooks are some of the best I have worked with. I'm definitely excited about working here.

I was also finally able to order one of the knives that I had been wanting for a long while. I pulled the trigger and purchased an Aura, and it is hands down the best knife I have ever owned. The blade is cryogenically hardened carbon steel, the handle is made from California Burl wood, and it has a gemstone counterweight which makes the balance absolutely ridiculous. The weight is perfect and it feels incredible in your hand. If you ever get a chance to test one of these out, do it.

http://i.imgur.com/mleANAJ.png

I've made some new dishes and I will try and post them here when I have time. Thanks for everyone who has been following this, and your words of encouragement and critique.

Quote (Creations @ Feb 6 2016 12:11pm)

Seared snapper/ orange beet root emulsion/ brussels/ spinach/ rosemary lemon gremolata.

http://i.imgur.com/YpP6l1Y.png

Seared rabbit loin/ confit rabbit leg/ brussels/ confit fingerlings/ roasted carrots/ orange rabbit jus.

http://i.imgur.com/x44Cki0.png





Thank you very much!

Quote (Creations @ Jul 29 2014 03:15am)

They're actually Texas Gulf shrimp, and they're actually cooked thoroughly with the acid from the lime juice. :)

Tonight I prepared a pan-seared ribeye with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, green beans sautéed with bacon/garlic, and a mushroom Demi-Glas. This particular table wanted their steak cooked more than what I personally like. I like mine cooked medium-rare. But it is what it is, I guess.

http://i.imgur.com/dLYSIJu.jpg

A Demi-Glas is traditionally made by combining a brown stock, and an Espanole sauce (among a few other things), and simmered for a while. I actually made a shortened version of this sauce, which turned out extremely well, and is great to use if you don't have time to make your own stock and Espanole sauce.

Here's how I did it.

Steak:
Ribeye steaks (a sirloin or New York strip would work well here too)
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil

- Rub your steaks with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Season them pretty liberally, so you can get a nice crust on them. Put olive oil in a pan and set it to a high heat. Sear one side of the steak until you get a golden brown crust, flip it over and throw the pan in a 500 degree oven for a few minutes and cook to your desired doneness. You can put a small bit of butter on the steaks just before taking them out of the oven which will help them be more juicy, but it's optional. Remove the steak from the oven and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting it.

Mushroom Demi-Glas:
Beef or veal stock
Red wine
Peppercorns
Tomato paste
Garlic cloves
Fresh Thyme
Fresh mushrooms
Kosher salt
Butter

- Combine everything except your butter and salt in a sauce pan and let it simmer for at least an hour. Since a traditional Demi-Glas is made by adding an Espanole sauce and this doesn't have that, adding just a bit of tomato paste will add some richness to your sauce that would otherwise be missing without the Espanole. Once the sauce has simmered for at least an hour, strain the liquid and add it back to the sauce pan. Let this continue to simmer until it has reduced by 1/2. Season it to taste, and add a bit of butter to finish the sauce. This will thicken the sauce a little bit more, and give it that glossy, smooth finish that a good Demi sauce should have. Serve it immediately.

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes:
Yukon potatoes
Roasted garlic
Heavy cream
Butter
Kosher salt
Black pepper

- Pretty simple. Whip the ingredients until it's smooth.

Green beans:
Fresh green beans
Minced garlic
Bacon
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

- Trim the ends off the green beans and blanch them by boiling them and shocking them by throwing them in ice water after boiling them. In a sautéed pan, lightly coat the pan with olive oil and cook the bacon until it's crispy. Remove the bacon and leave the bacon fat in the pan. Obviously if there's too much fat left, drain a bit from the pan. Add on the green beans and sauté them a bit before adding in the garlic, so the garlic won't burn. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté for a few minutes. Stir in the bacon pieces just before serving for a little crunch.

This is actually one of my favorite dishes I have ever made, and the sauce tasted like something you worked on for hours on end. Although I prefer my steaks cooked a little less than the guests that ordered this plate, cooking your steaks like this will make them juicy almost every time. A few tickets later someone ordered theirs well done and it was still extremely juicy and flavorful.

I hope you all enjoy,

Quote (Creations @ May 22 2016 05:20pm)

Here's the first course of last week's tasting menu. We harvested some really nice purple cauliflower from the farm a couple of months ago, so we decided to experiment with fermentation. The result was fantastic. We are looking at playing around with it more with some of our other seasonal vegetables from the farm.

Anyway, the first course of the tasting menu was purple cauliflower fermented with Juniper/ shaved carrots/ cucumber/ cauliflower puree. It was a crazy contrast of flavors. You get the true, fresh flavor of the cauliflower from the puree, a fresh, clean flavor from the cucumber, and a more pungent, almost floral taste from the fermented cauliflower. I prefer dishes that focuses on an ingredient, and then use use different flavors and textures to enhance whatever that particular ingredient is. Whether it be a vegetable, meat, or fruit. You don't need 800 different components in a dish to make something outstanding. Simplicity, and respect for your ingredients makes all the difference in the world.

Our guests really enjoyed it, and I'm proud of it.

Thanks for looking.

http://i.imgur.com/y5sLJQg.jpg

Quote (eLeMeNt477 @ May 22 2016 09:36pm)

Lol I'd throw that in the garbage if you sold me 3 pieces of plants that you look like you picked up on the ground for more than $2

Quote (Creations @ May 22 2016 11:33pm)

I get what you're saying. And dishes from our normal menu do come with a more substantial amount of food. But the difference between that and a tasting menu is that a tasting menu consists of multiple courses, some as many as 20. Ours typically runs 10 or so courses. So when you plate a dish from said tasting menu, they are smaller portions because you don't want the guest feeling full by the middle course. And when guests order the tasting menu, they expect smaller portions but a greater number of courses. You ultimately get the same amount of food in all, just spread out over multiple courses.

Quote (eLeMeNt477 @ May 22 2016 09:36pm)

Lol I'd throw that in the garbage if you sold me 3 pieces of plants that you look like you picked up on the ground for more than $2