There is a lot going on here but it doesn’t look that way. I’ll tell you about it one day.
Eric
Sea Beans, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Olives, and Cheese
1
Category Archives: Vegetable
Roasted Lavender Honey Glazed Turkey Breast with Fingerling Medallions and Leek
I got a book (click) a while ago and had some honey that I infused with lavender to so I decided to put it to work.
Take a turkey breast that you have brined then get it ready to roast. Season with salt, pepper and the usual suspects then roast it until it’s done.
Save the pan juices then deglaze with white wine and reduce until it’s almost nothing. Work in the lavender honey to make a glaze.
The fingerling potatoes are sliced about 1/8 of an inch then shallow fried in clarified butter then topped with sel de mer and black pepper. The leeks are lightly cooked until translucent in clarified butter and sel de mer.
Slice the turkey then place a little clarified butter in a hot saute pan and toss the chicken in then the glaze to coat. This only takes about 35 seconds. Remove, plate, garnish with a micro green,
eat.
Eric
Roasted Chicken with a Mango/Togarashi Glaze with Ginger Rice and Yellow Bell/Carrot Topper
I had some of that honey mango puree leftover from the scallop “carpaccio” so I decided to make it into a glaze to put on some chicken. ”Wow Eric, you’re like McGyver in the kitchen without things going all explody time.
The glaze started off with a little chicken stock then I reduced it, added togarashi, added cornstarch then finally added the honey mango puree. I used the glaze on the chicken and to cook the carrots and yellow bell pepper.
The carrots and yellow bell pepper were cooked in sesame oil on low heat then the glaze was introduced. Carrots and bell, this is glaze. Glaze, this is carrots and bell.
I chopped up a bunch of ginger then used some sweet sushi rice and put it in the rice maker with a touch of salt. If you eat this by itself then it’s nothing to write on a blog about but paired with carrots and yellow bell it’s quite amazing.
After the chicken was roasted I deglazed the pan with some whiskey then added some of the glaze to make the final sauce on the plate.
Green onions garnish, sauced plate, food is ready!
Eric
Kalamata Cous Cous with Artichoke Hearts and Stems
I made a kalamata sauce the other day….
and bought some artichokes
Put them both together with a few more touches then proceeded to eat it. How was it? So good I’m not going to post a recipe….. Wait, I don’t post recipes anymore. That makes things easy then….
Eric
Grilled Lamb Chops with Bell Pepper Relish, Confit of Potatoes, and Brown Butter Broccoli
The picture doesn’t show the broccoli with the sauce on it….I guess I’ll just have to make this again!!
Again, this was at my sister’s house. I had no idea what she had there so I think things turned out great! Grilled lamb chops are f’ing amazing especially when they are seasoned with fresh rosemary, Himalayan pink salt (yeah, I was surprised she had that), and black pepper.
The potatoes, awesome. The broccoli, awesomer. Then top it all off with this and you’re good to go!
Crab, Artichoke, and Caper Salad with Home Sourced Greens and Dijon Vinaigrette
I went to my sister’s house after the wine event with a bottle of wine in my hand. I told her I was coming over and I was going to cook something so I had my fingers crossed that she had some food in or around her house. Luckily she has been growing a few things in her garden and she had a few odds and ends so things worked out.
I took a can of crab she had then mixed it with another can of an artichoke and caper spread. Diced up some cheddar, dressed it then put it on top of some lettuces and sorrel she was growing. Oh, some marinated mushrooms, why the hell not.
It was pretty good and the sorrel added a nice touch.
Next!
Eric
Seared Scallops with Pickled Vegetable Relish and Saffron Buerre Blanc
Remember my last episode of “Will…..it…pickle?!!?!?!”???? Well, I decided to make a little relish to serve along with some seared scallops. The relish is then topped with a saffron buerre blanc just to make the dish even more over the top. Keep it simple Eric, not today!
Eric
Black Salad with Balsamic Reduction Vinaigrette
Crazy looking right? I needed a break from being so symmetrical with my plating so I just went a little overboard with the balsamic. Every once in a while it’s good to just say, “F it, let’s see what this will look like”. Acid trip salad…..
Eric
Salad Time!
Wait a second. Is that a nicely plated salad by Mr. Self-Conscious Salad Plater? You bet your ass it is. I even have a secret vinaigrette on the thing and it makes the entire thing dazzle and shine.
Avocados, purple lettuce (I have the name written down with a “buy again” written next to it), micro greens, grape tomato, pickled mango, secret vinaigrette!
Eric
This week in……Will……It……..Pickle?!?!?!
My assault on the world of pickling continues. The other day I was reading the ingredients to a Thai sweet chili sauce that I really like and I noticed something amazing…….. “pickled red chili”. TO THE PICKLING CAVE!!!
I made a little base then pickled them there red chili’s. Day 2 and they are starting to get sweeter than the hot fire they were before….I spit hot fire. Anyway, so yes! It pickles!
Such is mango.
I was at Fresh Bistro the other the night and the waiter explained how the mangoes were pickled….well, not the steps but he said enough for me to GO TO THE PICKLING CAVE!!!
30 minutes in and they were all sorts of amazing. Day 2, even better! Ladies and gentlemen, IT PICKLES!
At work I do pickling with red onions, you’ve probably seen that combination a million times. I thought, “how about doing some white pearl onions in a red vinegar sweet pickling base”. TO THE PICKLING CAVE!!!!
30 minutes and the edgyness of the onion was gone and a slight sweet taste was evident. Day 2, the red wine vinegar plays well with the sweet onion taste better….coloring should change after a week.
I-T P-I-C-K-L-E-S!!!
I had some carrots lying around, a chipotle pepper, that new pickled crushed red pepper, and access to a pickling cave so I was off TO THE PICKLING CAVE!!
My goal with this one is to have the sweet chili taste infused with the carrots sweetness then bring back a little smokey chipotle flavor into the mix. I’m on fire……IT PICKLES!!!!
Having a pickling cave is awesome.
Eric
Petit Beef Wellington with Cheese Bechamel Potato Gratin Topped with 5 Hour Caramelized Onions
It’s a work in progress but a huge first step in the right direction.
15 day dry aged meat, which needs to be a different cut for this to work properly….still good though the way it was. Need one less layer of phyllo. The sauce on top is amazing…. It’s made from deglazing the pan where the caramelized onions were cooking then building it with veal demi, green peppercorn, crushed black pepper, and salt. Sauce presentation on the plate needs work.
The onions were caramelized for 5 hours. I built a bechamel then melted a ton of cheese into it. I sliced some russets very thin then placed the sauce in a squeeze bottle and layered the potatoes in the ramekin then flooded it with remaining sauce.
When the gratin was done I placed the onions on top and a little more cheese then torched it. This little concoction doesn’t need anything else.
Two experiments. One a complete success, the other needs a little refining. Next!
Eric
Roasted Tomato Powder
“Eric, that doesn’t look like powder.” Stop interrupting me, voice(s) in my head. Once I throw it in my spice grinder you’ll stop interrupting me then I’ll show you!!!!
You know when you make a puree of some sort then strain it and then you take the juice and make a roasted tomato saffron broth with hamachi (click)? Oh, you don’t do that? Damn! Well, next time you strain something take the strained pieces then lay them flat on a silpat (silicon mat) and place that in your oven at it’s lowest setting until it’s dried out completely. These roasted tomatoes? 22 hours.
What to do with the powder? You’ll see!
Eric
Hamachi in a Roasted Tomato Saffron Broth
Give me scraps, I brainstorm, I cook. A small piece of hamachi was given to me that included bones so I took the meat then made a broth from the bones and unusable meat…court bouillon style. I roasted some tomatoes on the vine for 6 hours then pureed them then strained. Mixed a bit of the broth together with the strained puree then seasoned it with sel de mer and saffron. I cured the hamachi for 24 hours with salt. The picture you see above is before I poured the broth over the hamachi with a little green onion and black pepper. Once I poured the broth over the fish I added some ginger oil to finish.
Eric
Fennel Salad with a Tarragon Vinaigrette. Again? Yes, again. Finally plated it how I wanted it to look
Third time’s a charm or something like that. I went from high and tight to flat to high and tight with the plating on this one. This is the one that sticks for me. I quick pickled the shallots, used the same tarragon infused white wine vinegar, added some avocado for flavor and color, more radish, finished with Himalayan pink salt. Everything else is the same.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Eric
1 of 3 Bob and Bonnie Dinner 3/30
The Salad Plating Saga Continues…..
I’m taking a class next quarter that involves making salads. I want to get a leg up on the competition. Actually, I just want to make the best damn looking salads anyone has ever seen but I’m not there yet. This class will help me a lot but Mindy is helping me with all this by planting a bunch of vegetables that will part of my private reserve. You’ll see them on here soon, I’m making sure I can highlight her work the best and not just put random things on a plate.
The salad above is pretty simple. Orange heirloom tomato, cucumber, radish, arugula, shaved almonds, easy. It is dressed with a tarragon vinaigrette that I can’t seem to give up. I’m hooked on tarragon for the moment.
Eric
