Recent Updates

Sometimes I just like to let my online friends know I'm alive. This is one of those posts. Lots going on but nothing earth shattering. Here is a recent plating I did for Bauscher. This was actually tougher than I expected. The plate comes with the platter, cup and spoon. It was an obvious tea time or dessert platter. I put one of my tahini/honey bon bons on the spoon, added a fresh ginger stout cake (Old Rasputin stout), dark chocolate mousse and passionfruit chocolat elixir.

A birthday cake I made this weekend - Two layers of the same ginger stout cake, a thick layer of lemon curd, lemon mousse and salted caramel glaze with milk crumb.

And today I was the first ever chef to teach an online interactive cooking class on Google+ at ChefHangout.com. There are about two dozen chefs on the site that were hand selected for their social connectedness and style and I'll be focusing my classes on chocolates, pastry and molecular gastronomy. I'm trying to see if I can't do some foraging classes but I'm not sure how I would since botany changes across the planet.

Vegan Love

I'm one of the few restaurants in town that go out of my way to serve vegetarians and vegans. Typically they are able to get a sauteed vegetable pasta or a hearty salad, but there's so much more than that. One of my recent favorites is cashew cheese.

Not really cheese per se, but a simple little concoction that serves as a base for many other items. Take enough cashews to half fill your food processor. Add any seasonings that you like - I've tried Indian, Southwest, Jamaican and a few others, then add boiling water, slowly, until you get a thick slurry. Don't over-process so the cheese has some texture. Taste, adjust and then let it sit for about 30 minutes to allow the moisture to absorb into the nuts.

Next you can either use it as a filling (think samosa, egg roll) or shape it into a ball and coat it. And finally fry or bake fry. The salad above is our current vegetarian/vegan option - a Thai seasoned cashew cheese, fried, served on local organic greens with fresh mango and a sweet and sour vegetarian fish sauce.

Recent Dishes

A "simple" little dessert - chocolate sablé, 3 layers of dark chocolate cake soaked with espresso liqueur, Hazelnut dacquoise, Tanzanian coffee ganache, dark chocolate mousse, passionfruit.

Part of my new chocolate line-up: Passionfruit coconut, Tanzanian coffee, Fiery Maple, Tahini/Honey

Pastry Frames

I've had a set of 1" aluminum pastry frame bars for quite some time thanks to the Chocolate Doctor - Kerry Beal, but recently I had our local glass shop make me these:

I can't remember the material but its not plexiglass. I think the material was like polycarb. They weren't cheap. The set of three (notice two different thicknesses) ran just about $175.

Recent Dishes

This was my 2011 signature Christmas dessert. Back in June I made a cacao based mincemeat that was macerated in three boozes until last week. The mincemeat was served with a fresh ginger ginger cake, passionfruit coulis and orange creme anglais.

The week before I served this: chocolate sablé, almond dacquoise, passionfruit bavaroise, dark chocolate mousse, coconut gelée

I've also been playing around with colored chocolate. Here is an attempt at a frog with red and yellow speckles and gold luster. I'm really wanting my airbrush now.

A savory dish for my friends at Bauscher - Moroccan spiced fermented cashew cheese, spiced beets, piñones and pumpkin seed streusel

Last week's dinner special - leek ash ravioli filled with local goat cheese and my own preserved lemons.

Curious Kumquat

Book Review: The Art of Eating Cookbook

Recipes that are timeless. Recipes that have endured. Recipes that hold enough cultural significance that they’ve adorned the pages of Art of Eating magazine. The Art of Eating Cookbook is a no fuss, no frills anthology of recipes that work, taste great, and are doable by any level of cook.

You can read the full review HERE.

Book Review: Momofuku Milk Bar

What has become my most attention grabbing review to date, below is my lukewarm coverage of a cult following cookbook.

Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook is the American reader’s chance to jump back to his or her youth with memories of being raised on Cap’n Crunch and Corn Flakes. In a follow-up to David Chang’s best-selling Momofuku Cookbook, his pastry chef, Christina Tosi, presents her most popular recipes including the famed Compost Cookies and Crack Pie. But beware of her overly sweet recipes if you prefer your desserts a bit more subtle and understated.

Read the rest of the review HERE.