Ok, so Fall isn't officially here yet. In fact, in my area it's been an unprecedented heat wave this week. However, everywhere I go shopping the fall decor is out and the pumpkins are everywhere. 

My son loves the fall, specifically Halloween (his favorite holiday). He also looooves his pancakes. One morning I was whipping up a batch on the griddle and decided to try to make some pumpkin shaped pancakes for him. Needless to say it was a hit! 

Using a 2oz ladle to carefully make a circle of batter on the griddle, and then a little batter "stem" couldn't be easier. If you wanted to make them a bit more adult in flavor I'm sure you could add some...ahhh, "pumpkin spice" to the mix or even fold in a little pumpkin puree for a deeper flavor. 

Happy fall everyone!

Ice Cider: Move over Sauterne

My first introduction to Ice Cider was a few years ago during a decadent meal at Montreal's infamous Au Pied de Cochon. After eating course after course of rich, fatty, and wrong (and yet so so right) foods; there was dessert. I couldn't tell you what I had for dessert that night, because I fell in love with my dessert wine instead. I remember the first sip...just cold enough, with an explosion of green and red apple flavor and an acidity to match. Slowly the acid faded away, and lent itself to a glossy, velvety sweetness. Right then and there I was hooked! I asked our waiter to let me see the bottle of what was then a very obscure product, and was introduced to Cyromalus. 

Iced cider is produced in a similar way to ice wine. Varietals of apples are harvested and then crushed and left to ferment into cider. This cider is then frozen, and the alcohol is separated from the water and reduced naturally. The process is repeated many times, until there is little left. The result is a concentrated apple "wine" that can stand up to the finest of dessert wines.

My last trip to Toronto, I was determined to hunt down and obtain a few bottles of this liquid gold. After several phone calls my cousin and I headed out to an LCBO (thats the government run liquor store in Toronto for those that are unfamiliar) to buy a bottle or two. Now this stuff is made in small quantities, and the bottle size is small at 375ml. Its also not cheap at $40+ a bottle. But to me its worth every penny. 

Ice Cider is a great pairing with any dessert that you would enjoy apples with. It lends itself well to maple desserts, such as Montreal's Pudding Chomeur. Hopefully one day it will become more well known and imported into the United States. Until then, I guess you will have to travel to get a taste. Its worth the trip.

Summer Shrimp Roll with Tequila & Sangrita, Broadstreet Coleslaw

Summer is here and that means refreshing light food. While lobster rolls are all the rage right now, a very fresh shrimp roll is just as good. Paired with crisp coleslaw (homemade of course) it's a great meal. Finish it off with chilled tequila, some spicy Sangrita for a chaser and cold cerveza dipped in Lime Chili salt. Summer never tasted so good!

Shrimp Roll - Serves 4

1.25 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined.

2 large spoonfuls of mayo (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsp. Dairygold Irish Butter

Club Rolls

Minced Parsley

Paprika

1 shallot, finely diced

1 lemon, juiced and zest

S&P

Shrimp Court Bouillon:

3 stalks celery, rough cut

Shells from the shrimp

Black Pepper

Salt

1 lemon, cut in half and juiced

Fill a pot with cold water, add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes, then let steep another 15 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid.

In a large bowl combine the shredded cabbage and all the other ingredients. There should be enough liquid to almost cover the cabbage mixture. Make sure to add enough mayo until the liquid is thick. Reserve in the fridge, best after 24 hours to marinate.

Heat oven to 425f. Butter the rolls, and toast till golden. Set aside.

Bring the shrimp court bouillon to a very low simmer, add the shrimp. Poach till the color of the shrimp turns pink and they feel firm to the touch. Don't over cook! Remove, and chop the shrimp in small pieces. Add the shrimp to a bowl with the mayo, parsley, lemon juice, shallot, 1 tablespoon butter and S&P. Add paprika to taste. Spoon into the warm rolls and serve with coleslaw.

Broadstreet Smokehouse Coleslaw

1 head cabbage, sliced thinly on a bias

Mayo

3 cloves minced garlic

2 carrots, shredded

Cider Vinegar

Half & Half

S&P

Garlic Salt

Onion Powder

Sugar to taste

Serve with Cold Blanco Tequila or a good Mezcal and the Sangrita.

Spicy Sangrita:

12oz tomato juice

6 oz Orange Juice

2 oz grapefruit juice (optional)

1 oz lime juice

2 oz hot sauce (I used habanero hot sauce, very spicy)

1 teaspoon salt and pepper each

Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with tequila and cold beers dipped in Chili Lime Salt with lime wedges.

Sorbet, A series. Strawberry, Avocado, Lambic

As the first day of spring has just passed, it seemed fitting to tame the cold and start thinking of warmer weather. With an odd array of ingredients at hand, sorbet was spun and the results were fantastic. Each flavor had a unique texture, and the  balance of sweet, rich, and sour were highly refreshing.

Left to Right:

Strawberry, Avocado, Raspberry Lambic

The Avocado "Ice Cream" Sorbet right from the machine

Corn Soup with Chili Dorito Chicken

So I was given a challenge, to crust something with Sweet Chili Doritos and make it tasty. My thought process was corn chips and corn, spices with something cooling like cucumber. End result, corn soup with Dorito crusted chicken breast and cucumber crostini.

Caramelizing the corn

Crusted Chicken

Corn Soup after blending

The garnish in the bowl before the soup

Cucumber crostini with indian spices, peppercorns, and greek yogurt

The final dish, Spicy Sweet Chili Dorito Crusted Chicken, corn soup, blueberries, and paprika

The ingredients laid out

Rosemary Garlic Roasted Striploin

So for the 4th of July this year, I got a great whole strip loin steak from work for the BBQ. I had about a quarter of it left, and decided to do a simple roast. The flavor was incredible, and the meat was very very tender. Super simple to make, a meal like this is great cause once the prep work is done, you basically forget about it in the oven.

The Strip after being seared hard with salt and pepper, then rubbed down with chopped rosemary, garlic, pink salt, and olive oil. Roasted at 400f for about 20 minutes, then reduced to 375f for about 30 minutes.

The roast out of the oven. Resting for 15 minutes is essential. Final temp was about 140f.

The roast right after slicing.

Roasted Rosemary Garlic Strip loin with sauteed spinach and olive oil potatoes

2008 J Lohr Paso Robles Merlot

Lots of dark fruit and plum flavors, and also kind of gamey. Great with the roast.

Lamb Ravioli with greek yogurt

Homemade Lamb Ravioli with greek yogurt, mint, and piquillo peppers.

Sometimes as a cook you hit a home-run with a dish that you create. For me, this particular dish was just that. It had the perfect balance of tender black bass with a crispy skin, lemon-mustard leek veloute sauce with chervil, perfectly cooked wax beans that snapped when you ate them, and heartly smashed potatoes with chives. This is something I would proudly serve on my menu any day, with a cold glass of Gavi de Gavi.

For dessert, homemade cream puffs filled with whipped cream and glazed in chocolate

Black Sea Bass Filets, lightly floured and sauteed.

Steamed wax beans

Fish Fumet with Gavi white wine, then reduced and turned into a leek, mustard veloute

Smashed multicolored potatoes, with butter and chives

Cream puffs waiting for the chocolate to set

The other day, I had this craving for a risotto while I was working. We don't actually serve risotto at work, but oddly enough the smell of garlic emanating from someones order of steak tartar (the garlic is smeared on the bread for flavor) made me have this craving.

At home, the process was simple enough. Sauteed Cremini and Shitake mushrooms with thyme and rosemary were cooked and cooled. These were then added to the risotto which was cooked with chicken stock, Prosecco,  & white truffle oil. Once the rice was done, it was finished with black truffle salt and parsley.

I spotted the wine on the top shelf at our local wine store with some of the french wines, Aloxe-Corton. I knew this wine would be amazing (thanks to some past talks with my sommelier friend Vanessa) with a rich mushroom-y dish. It was a meal made in heaven.

The finished dish

White truffle and shitake risotto

A very nice wine indeed......

Summer Pavlova

Summer Fruit Pavlova with vanilla whipped cream

Mango Nectarines

Mango Nectarines....

What exactly is a mango nectarine? Well, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure myself until a few hours ago. After a few beers in Soho, I was walking home thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. I knew that I had a 2008 Standing Stone Vidal Icewine in my freezer for a very long time, and that I should try to come up with a dessert that would pair nicely with this particular wine. As I was walking towards the train, I stopped into Dean & Deluca just to see if there was anything interesting available.

The first steps into Dean & Deluca are always a bit overwhelming...lots of people and lots of produce. As I surveyed the selection of fruits, exotic mushrooms, and mundane potatoes I spotted something unusual. A bunch of nectarines, with a peculiar color of green and iridescent orange, much like the common mango. As I checked the sign and picked one up, I read "Mango Nectarines". Now, I've never heard of such a thing, but at $7 a .lb theses guys weren't exactly cheap. However, the smell of the nectarines was truly amazing...they were perfectly ripe, with a hint of mango to them. I put them down, on principal of price and walked around the store. Ten minutes later I was back with 4 of them in a bag.

On the long ride on the train home, I pondered: What exactly do I do with these things? My solution was to eat one, and see where the flavor took me. They have a surprising taste of nectarine, with the usual balance of sweetness and tart flavor, but then you really taste the mango. How they make these fruits I don't know.

After a long decision, I wanted a dessert that would showcase the fruit for what it was, but would also accent the flavor of the mango in it. I came up with a dish I am truly proud of.

The mango nectarines are simply cut in half and cored, the pit removed and hollowed out very slightly. In its place, I filled it with a mousse made of ripe nectarines cooked in a little bit of butter and simple syrup, then blended and strained. I added gelatin to this warm mixture, and allowed it to cool. Once cooled, it was mixed with whipped cream to create a flavorful mousse which was piped into the centers. To give the dish another dimension, I made a fromage blanc ice cream with lime zest, and set it over chocolate shavings. The whole thing works amazingly well together.

I don't know the next time I will see mango nectarines, but I will always remember this dessert that really showed off the fruits for what they were.

Whipped cream

Strained apricot puree with gelatin

Apricot Puree

Mango Nectarines filled with apricot mousse, shaved chocolate and lime fromage blanc ice cream

Bark Dog! Brooklyn

After watching an episode of Eat Out! NYC the other day, I was inspired to take a trip to Bark Dog in Park Slop Brooklyn to check out their claim of best NYC hotdog. I have to say, it was a pleasant surprise how good it really was.

The hotdog itself was the BEST hotdog I have ever had. Made by a sausage maker in upstate new york (rochester, woo!) the dog itself is very well made. Theres a distinct "snap" when you bite into the dog, and then the resulting filling is smooth and flavorful, very similar to a bratwurst. The toppings of the hotdogs vary, and I thought that the chili dog was one of the best. The sweet/sour relish topping was also very good, and it added a nice variation to the hotdog mixup.

I was however, very disappointed by their baked beans. These beans are supposed to be slow cooked for 18 hours, but to be honest they were kind of bland and in need of some more brown sugar or vinegar to kick up the flavor.

Bark is an eco-friendly restaurant, and I loved the solid wood tables that they had, and the clever use of their small space. Their signature beers brewed by a local brewery were crisp and hoppy, and complimented the hot dogs well.

Overall, I think bark has a good thing going for them, and if I ever have a hot dog craving...i'll be taking the long trek over to Park Slope.

My friend and fellow chef Jeong Woo Kim helps taste test at Bark Dog

A perfect burger

The other day I was craving a burger...not just any burger mind you, but a juicy, meaty, cheese and onion laden burger on a soft brioche bun. And so I set about making the simple, well; simply delicious.

Dover Sole Meuniere

At my restaurant we used to sell a Grilled Dover Sole, until we decided to change the menu for the winter season. On a nightly basis I would deftly fillet the Dover Sole for our customers, and I decided one night that I would have to get some at home and make it in a more "classic preparation". For those who don't know, Dover Sole A la Meuniere is a classic french dish which literally translates as in the style of the miller's wife. Since the miller always had flour around, the fish is lightly dredged in flour, then cooked in butter till golden brown. The addition of butter cooked till brown, lemon, and parsley completes the dish a la minute to create the Meuniere Sauce.

This dish is well suited to a crisp white wine, with either a lot of acidity such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a rich Chardonnay or Chablis.

If you have never had a chance to taste Sole Meuniere, then you should try to find a place that serves it. Its such an amazing dish, with a complex flavor and a firm textured white fish.

Dover Sole a la Meuniere with a quick style Ratatouille

Sauteed Salmon with Sweet Potato Apple Puree

Sauteed Wild Pacific Salmon, sweet potatoes cooked in apple cider, pureed with a brunoise of gala apples. Frisee with a lemon champagne vinaigrette.

Valentines Day Salad 2008

Blood Orange and Mustard Vinaigrette Salad, Blood Orange Strawberry Reduction and Raspberry "Hearts"

Homemade Ricotta "Postage Stamps"

Being super busy with work lately hasn't given me much of an opportunity to post about the cooking in my new kitchen that I have been up to.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to make pasta from scratch, and create my beloved Ricotta Mushroom "Postage Stamps" with duck confit, and sage-brown butter sauce. A dish that require a lot of work, and a labor of love, but is truly spectacular in its end result. Im very proud of this one, and so I had to share it with everyone.

Ricotta Stuffed Postage Stamps with Sage Brown Butter Sauce, Duck Leg Confit, Pecorino Romano, Julienned Sugar Snap Peas.