New Dinner Menu - Pics

Let me get my whining out of the way first. These pics stink - I have a darker kitchen and didn't have enough time to set things up well. Second, my plating is downright poor in some of these pics since these came from one of my first nights before I had the kinks worked out. Last night's dishes looked so much more beautiful and flawless. Okay whining done - just look past the flaws (and professional chefs, remember, I'm a one man show in the kitchen).

To recap - I've been working with the local growers and producers to find a system that works for all of us. The problem is that most of them don't have enough to supply me, so I've developed a menu that focuses on the animals that I can purchase year-round (primarily bison and beef), and that core menu will stay consistent for about a month. Each Monday, the other growers and producers call me to tell me what they have to sell. They know my buying priorities are 1) Indigenous, 2) Unusual, 3) Micro, 4) Organic...but all have to be from our surrounding area. With their offerings I then build a menu around the core items, so the menu will constantly change. At this time of year I'm limited to sprouts and greens and a few other smaller items, but spring crops will be coming soon.

Everyone gets this amuse bouche - parsley sugar disc with local bee pollen and lavender.

One of the apps - mesquite blini with savory avocado ice cream and Chinese cabbage sprouts.

White truffle potato puree (Roubochon method) with wheat grass and sunflower sprouts.

The show stopper - hickory smoked filled canister of steamed unagi and bonito dashi with red radish sprouts. When the canister comes to the table all you see is smoked and once opened the smoke releases to reveal the dish. This pic is of the smoker tube ready to release its smoke.

24-hour beet/turnip with crema and parma tuile.

My previously posted blue corn taco with pork belly.

The most popular entree - Mark's embutido with broccoli sprouts, carbonated grapes and saffron bonito rice.

Very gooey passionfruit flourless chocolate cake with caramel

Apple pie - 24-hour apples, green apple mousse, cinnamon tuile, salted caramel

There are six other dishes that didn't get photographed which I'll try to add later. So far, the burger - which is really good is not selling, nor is the beef tagine, except when I fed the growers and producers who loved it. I'm very tired and will be posting reflections soon.

Book Review: Torreblanca 2

Paco Torreblanca, famed far more in Europe than the rest of the world, has been named the Best Master Artisan Pastry Chef in Europe, author of the Best Pastry Book of the World twice, and is an ambassador for the Barry Callebaut Group, as well as owning Totel pastry shop.

A serious, no-nonsense book for people who take pastry seriously, Paco Torreblanca 2 focuses on integrating natural ingredients into microcosmic eye candy. Utilizing a variety of sugars, the “Picasso of Pastry” creates sugar bookmarks, envelopes and shot glasses. Of most renown in this book are Torreblanca’s liquor caviars created by injecting sugar and alcohol into a corn starch mold.

And with a Vatelesquian sensory orgasm, Torreblanca moves beyond sugar (Torreblanca also covered sugar in his out of print La Seducción de Azúcar and his more recent Colección), this book includes treatments of milk (skins, dried foams), jellies, fruit papers, and macarons.

You can read the rest of the review at The Gastronomer's Bookshelf.

Recipe: Honey Saffron Ice Cream & Chocolate Cous Cous

Here's my second entry in TobiasCooks' Moroccan cooking event.


Chocolate cous cous
450 g AP Flour
55 g Cocoa powder
4 Eggs
2 Whites
Knead, rest 30, roll, cut into small bits and dry.

Saffron Honey Ice Cream
1 C Milk
1 C Cream
3/4 C. The rankest honey you can find (I used Bee Chama Buckwheat honey)
6 Yolks
A good pinch of saffron threads

Heat milk and cream. Whisk yolks and honey. Temper yolk mixture with hot milk mixture and add saffron. Cook until it coats the back of your spoon. Chill overnight and then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Boil the cous cous in a sugar water bath and serve the ice cream on hot cous cous. Since neither component is overly sweet this is a nice ending to a spicy and hearty tagine.

pics coming...I promise - New Dinners

Basically all of my pics stink which is fine since my plating, while good, was not where I want it to be. Here's the only pic worth sharing - the amuse bouche that each guest received:

This parsley sugar plaque held local bee pollen and lavender buds. I'll post the rest of the menu this weekend since its my first week of dinners for paying customers. Most of the kinks are worked out, but I'm desperately trying to find a morning prep person so I can shorten my 16 hour days.

Deep Plate - My Latest Goofing Around

Like I need one more thing on my plate! I recently started following the Bauscher blog where they run a monthly event in which chefs create dishes to accentuate their dishes. To me the challenge is to not just throw something on the dish but to plate in a way that works in conjuction with the dish to elevate the experience. Here are two attempts on March's plate:

From my new menu - Blue Corn Pork Belly Taco (blue corn tuile, sous vide pork belly, salsa fresca, crema avocado).

I like this pic better but it doesn't show the plate as well.

And you'll recognize this as my recent heart salad.

The Curious Blogquat: Recipe: Dessert Tagine

The Curious Blogquat: Recipe: Dessert Tagine
Tobias Cooks

Recipe: Dessert Tagine

For my new dinner menu I wanted to create a dessert tagine and I used the opportunity to participate in a fun cooking challenge over at TobiasCooks.

I'm working on a second recipe that involves chocolate cous cous, but I wanted to do an easier attempt first. The basic concept is a steamed pudding/cake that is steamed by fresh citrus. This is one that anyone can do even if you don't have a tagine.

Oven to 350º F. Butter metal rings or ramekins.

143 g (5 oz) Dates
Ginger nub
Serious pinch of salt
1 T Vanilla paste/1 t vanilla extract
1 t. Baking soda

254 g (9 oz) Unsalted butter, room temp
133 g (4 2/3 oz) Palm sugar or brown sugar
45 g (1.5 oz) Candied ginger
Zest of one orange

223 g (7 7/8 oz) AP Flour
1 t. Baking Powder
1 Egg

Put dates, ginger, salt, vanilla and one cup of water in small sauce pan. Cook about 10 minutes. Turn heat to low and add baking soda. The mixture will be ugly. Cook three minutes and remove from heat. Remove the ginger and set aside.

In a mixer using a paddle, combine the butter, sugar, candied ginger, and zest. Beat for two minutes on medium. Add the date mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the flour and baking powder and mix just until combined. Divide the mixture between the rings.

Surround the rings with freshly chopped oranges, lemons and grapefruit. If using a tagine, cover and set in oven for about 30 minutes. You want the cake to be set but loose. I bake 25 then turn the oven off and let the tagine stay covered to continue cooking.

Whip some cream or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy.