Today Was A “Special” Day

Today I was an extra instead of the tournant where I usually work everyones station on their day off no one had a day off because of the holiday. I ended up making three specials. The soup of the day. A vegetarian entree and, a v.i.p. appetizer.

“White Gazpacho”

Marcona “Almond Milk”, Foie Gras Bread Pudding,

Roasted Chestnut and Cocoa Nib, and Foie Gras “Puree”

Thirty minute Veg. Entree

Mise en Place

Roasted Endive with Cooked-Raw Cauliflower Puree,

Butter Leek Emulsion, and Perigord Truffle

The middle endive is filled with the half raw half cooked puree with tarragon and the other two are filled with the same puree and black truffle oil.

I was already making raviolis for the regular menu and I was told to make a v.i.p. appetizer of whatever I wanted but they needed it in 10 minutes. Not too bad for 10 minutes.

Lobster Agnolotto, Port Salut and Foie Gras Creme,

and Perigord Truffle

Thank You!

I want to thank all of you who view my blog. Yesterday I hit 10,000 hits on my blog. I have been posting for just less than a year and all of you are the reason I am still here. This blog drives me to work harder just so I can attempt to impress you.

I remember when 20 or 30 hits in one day really excited me. I also remember when I got the most hits ever for my blog at 164 and how blown away I was. Now there are about 100 of you that read my blog daily and I want you to know that I wish I could make a new dish everyday to keep you excited.

With the holiday season the way it is (I have not bought one present yet!) and, just being married and then starting a second job I have been working about 65 hours a week for the past few weeks. I want to post more. I want to create more. But for a lot of new posts you will have to wait until after the first of the year.

I do not know who most of your are and I am really intersted to learn who some of my readers are. I would be ablidged to learn who some of you are. Please comment and share if you have your own blog, how you found my blog, or why you keep coming back.

Again, thank you all each and everyone of you, you drive me to work and try harder to learn and create.

Splenda Can Be Splendid

“Compressed Pineapple “Ho Ho”, Cardamom Sprouts

and Sesame Zabione”

Today I was working the pastry station and some guests came in that have frequented our restaurant for years. They are diabetic so therefore cannot have sugar. We had about seventeen tickets up but none of them were gonna be fired for a while so I whipped this up in about thirty minutes. The pineapple is is rolled around whipped cream cheese (I truly do not know why we had this in the kitchen), sour cream and seasoned with cinnamon and mace.

The sesame sabayon (zabione is the original Italian word) was soft but and had an awesome flavor that tied in the the cardamom leaf and sprout. My sous chef came up to me after he had tried it and said that it tasted better than sugar.

The Truffle Shuffle

You know that one dance from that fat kid from that one movie.

I just got a chance to take a picture of our larges ttruffle and the largest Perigord that I have ever seen. There is a chunk missing from service (I guess at least 15 grams) and the beautiful fist size truffle weighs in at an awesome 5.4 oz. or 153 grams.

There are some picks of our Alba truffles and a little chiffonade of perigord that gave me a smile on my face for 10 minutes after I had cut them.

Yah I Know But, I Really Like Clear Broths

 ”Ham and Bean Soup”

Proscuitto and Foie Gras Consomme,

Foie Gras and Black Eyed Pea “Tile”,

Smoked Banana and Two Bean Puree

With all of the consommes that I have made I probably could make a page on my blog (which I need to update) but, if there is going to be a broth it better be perfectly clear. After Thanksgiving I saw my aunt making making a ham and bean soup and I thought given the season I should do my version of the dish.

The flavor of the Proscuitto and foie was awesome but I had to figure out a way to make the beans be a little more gourmet. I attempted to make agar cannellini bean dumplings with minimal success. I really did not have enough time to experiment with them enough. Also I wanted a little more foie flavor so I decided to do the foie and goat tile and put some legumes inside it. The puree is adzuki beans and cannelini, the adzuki beans really gave it a nice peppery addition to the broth. When it comes to the banana I really wanted to use a plantain but from the time that I thought of that component I could not find plantains before I had to go to work. I knew that goat cheese and foie would go with banana so I tried the broth with fresh banana and so the potential. I maple smoked the banana (again) then pan seared the banana with arborio rice and it really gave beautiful crunch and really gave a great different flavor that was really enjoyed by the guests.