12/12/12 Apocalypse Tasting Dinner

This is a belated posting of our Apocalypse Tasting Dinner on 12/12/12.  When the guests arrived they found the servers unwilling to talk and dressed like zombies, no utensils, only bamboo sporks.

Tyler created an amazing playlist for the evening.  And here's my daunting menu for the night:

--> Hudson Valley Foie Gras, morel soil, enoki, acorn financier, stoned potatoes, cattail ash branches, Benedictine Liqueur granité, olive oil pudding  Pairing: The Golem Riesling, 2010

 

--> Acorn gelée, fermented black garlic, squid ink   Pairing: The Innocent Viognier, 2008

--> Beet, purple yam, bull’s blood microgreens, yogurt foam   Pairing: The Brujeria Tempranillo/Shiraz/Grenache/Cab, 2008

  Pico de Gallo marshmallow, sweet pea, parmesan   Pairing: Yard Dog Petit Verdoit Cab, 2009

I played a bit with the watermelon radish - prettier than tasty in my opinion.
 

 A fry of potato balls for the hot dish of the night.

 A quick slice of some Italian white winter truffle.

  Potato, Italian white winter truffle, 18-month Parmesan Pairing: Alpha Box & Dice Grenache, 2008

Pork brain, custard fruit, pennywort, pitty pat squash Pairing: The Mistress Old Madeira, 2009

Goat saddle crudo, ginko, salmon roe, yogurt, sesame

 Frog, Pomme Robuchon, watermelon radish,  Pairing: The Executioner Shiraz/Cab/Viognier, 2008

Squab, Pomme Maxim, pumpkin tofu, beet, roasted Brussels sprouts   Pairing: The Verdict Cab, 2007

 I have a photographer working on b&w hand shots for a display I'm creating.

 

Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao panna cotta with mango boba   Pairing: The Innocent Viognier, 2008

Black cake, coconut treacle, Nicuraguan Finca Santa Elena coffee, mincemeat   Pairing: The Golem Riesling, 2010

 Assorted petit fours

Photos by Jay Hemphill Photography
Dishes by Bauscher USA including Bauscher and Tafelstern
Curious Kumquat

2013 All Chocolate Dinner

So much has happened since my last blog post which is why we're nearly 9 months since the last.  We've added foster parenting to our busy schedule and hope to adopt sometime this year.  The restaurant was also featured in the 2013 Saveur 100 at spot #39.  And there's been a slew of follow-up press after that.  But I did want to share a recent tasting dinner from Valentine's - my all-chocolate, nothing sweet dinner.

First course was a local rabbit liver paté infused with foraged hackberries and coated in 75% bitter chocolate.

 Second course is a beet soup with yogurt boba, fillo cap and sesame oil powder.

Third course used Mastiha that I read about in a recent Art of Eating.

 Mastiha brined prawns with beet greens, 85% chocolate mousse, and mastiha infused olive oil.

Smoked salmon filled black cocoa ravioli in a cacao parma consommé with Chinese black moss.

 

 Almond milk gelée coated in miroire with fiery salted coconut, bee pollen and salt cured egg yolk.

 Orange masa tamal with goat cheese and black garlic topped with caramelized cacao nibs.

Indian scented cauliflower with coriander and green cardamom, coated in black chocolate and in seasoned butter sauce

 Cocoa rubbed local goat chop with peanut cacao crumb and beet.

 Cocoa water sous vide rabbit loin, blood orange and banana polenta.

Photos by Jay Hemphill Photography
Dishes by Bauscher USA including Bauscher and Tafelstern
Curious Kumquat

Recipe: Crawfish Mac n Cheese

We've been foraging a lot of crawfish lately so here's a simple special we ran a few weeks back:

Oven to 350ºF

Cook 1 pound pasta al dente (shells, rotini or penne)

In large sauce pan combine:
-2 tablespoons ExV
-1/3 C diced bacon (we use our house cured)
Cook until starting to crisp, then add:
-1/2 C diced onion
-1 clove garlic, crushed
Cook until onions soften a bit. Add:
-A large spoon of butter
-5 T AP flour
Cook, stirring for about 5 minutes.  Add:
-3 C milk
Whisk to make sure there are no lumps. Bring to simmer and add salt and pepper to taste.  Grate in some nutmeg and cook for a few more minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in:
-2 C crawfish tails, shelled

Add 1 pound of grated cheese - we used parma, gruyere and munster, but any combo will work as long as at least some are melty cheeses.  Add 2 T Cajun spice (your own mix or I like Tony Chacherie).  Pour into a 9x13 pan and top with panko toasted in butter.  Bake 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Photo ripped from web, let me know if its yours.  Recipe based on Emeril recipe.

Curious Kumquat

Homeade Gin

Tyler gets to take over the blog for a day because he's making gin!

I didn't keep track of exact amounts on the ingredients, except the powdered Green Chile, but here's a best-guess:

Popotillo (Mormon Tea) - Three 4-Inch Twigs

Juniper Berries - 1/4 Cup

Pine Needles - 1/8 Cup

Fresh Mint - 1/8 Cup

Cilantro - 1/2 Cup (Loosely Packed)

Peel from 1 Lime

Powdered Green Chile 1/8 tsp

The Popotillo, Juniper Berries, Pine Needles, and Mint were foraged on a dog walk in the forest near my house.

I bruised each of the ingredients, except the Green Chile, in a mortar and pestle before putting it in the jar. I poured 2 Cups Smirnoff Triple Distilled 100 Proof (the only 100 Proof vodka I could find in my town) over the mixture and let it sit for four days, swirling it around in the jar three or four times during that time. On Day 4, I poured the mixture through a coffee filter, and then poured it through another coffee filter. I haven't bought a Brita filter yet, but will probably do that at some point. I then mixed the resulting green liquid with 2 Cups Stolichnaya.

Next time -- and there will definitely be a next time -- I'll use less Lime Peel. All-in-all, it was a grand success.

-Tyler

Why I love my job

I always love my job, but moments like this I REALLY love my job:

 

This is an order from last Saturday.  A family of 3 - a mom and two small children (7 and 9).  All three ordered our modernist tasting dinner.  The 7 year old girl ordered the lamb chop - which, btw, is her regular order (they come once a month).  The 9 year old boy ordered oxtail...why?...because he had never had it.  Bottom right shows the drink order - mom had a nice German beer while the kids both had Japanese Ramune drinks.  Great night out for them and lots of fun for me!

Book Review: Melt

Due to their specialized nature, chocolate cookbooks are more about instruction than style, and that lays a heavy responsibility on the author. Because chocolate making requires precision and accuracy in technique, time and temperature, instructions must be clear and keenly focused on the intended readership . Melt, while offering beautiful photography and ample recipes struggles to achieve this level of accuracy.

Read the rest of the review HERE at the Gastronomer's Bookshelf
The Curious Kumquat

(Belated) Valentine's dinner wrap-up

Bad pictures unfortunately, but here we go:
Our dinner was all chocolate and all savory. We have one couple who has been to every one of our tasting dinners and they declared this the best meal yet. One major change is that I offered no entree - all small bite or mezze sized portions.

Course 1: Paté Lolli
Local chicken liver paté with candied cherry and hibiscus liquer, rolled in sugar and finished with cacao.

Course 2: Celery root mousseline with cocoa and truffle espuma
best course of the night

Course 3: Mushroom Cocoa Millefuile

Savory acorn crepe layered with savory dark chocolate ganache infused with foraged oyster mushroom


Course 4: Cocoa Caponata with Parmesan Crisp

Course 5: Cauliflower risotto
I think I borrowed this concept from Osteria F where you painstakingly cut off the micro flowers of cauliflower and cook them ala risotto with white chocolate. Topped with a cocoa tuile.

Course 6: Arugula Salad with Vodka Dressing
Wilted arugula, mushroom crema, liquid cocoa-infused vodka sphere dressing

Course 7: Crawfish Cakes
Foraged crawfish cakes with sweet potato, foraged watercress and foraged amaranth

Course 8: Savory Brownies
This was a stretch but we pulled it off. Small bite of savory brownie with candied mushrooms and topped with mushroom whipped cream

Course 9: Bratwurst
House made cocoa wild boar bratwurst, dijon, potato purée and greens

Course 10: Beets
Borderline sweet/savory beet mousse with cocoa crumb and beet greens

Course 11: Ash pasta
This was served earlier in the night but I don't remember where...leek ash pasta, cocoa sphere, mango, parma and olive oil powder

Curious Kumquat