Triggerfish w/ Bacon

Here is a dish I enjoyed making. It was a part of a tasting menu I did for a newlywed couple the other day. This dish is full of local food stuff, the fish is from NC waters, and the sweet potatoes and asparagus are from a local farm. I first thinly sliced some applewood smoked bacon from the slab and layered it out onto some plastic wrap, next I layed the fish onto the bacon and covered the two with fresh tarragon leaves. I rolled that sucker tight and poached it in some warm water for about 15 min. I cooled it in an ice bath and began to cut portions.

I pan roasted the fish and bacon, made some chips of the sweet potatoes, cooked the asparagus in some butter, made a red wine shallot gastrique, plated and served.

Goat Cheese Sphere

Local goat cheese, beet puree, tangerine segment, tarragon and "everything bagel" chip.

Uncle's Fruit Sushi

I've spoken of a co-worker in here a couple of times and each time it has been the same guy, he is Uncle(not my uncle, not your uncle, I don't even think he is an uncle at all, he is just Uncle), and here is his Fruit sushi, I regret taking the picture so quickly becauce I didn't get his wasabi ice cream in there. That ice cream was good,,, just don't plan on eating a bowl of it anytime soon.

Caesar Salad?

An amuse bouche of romaine rib, flash fried white anchovy, cracked black pepper, truffle oil and parmigiano reggiano. No more, no less. ......... OK, accually I wish I put more; I want some sort of egg custard on there.

A Lobster at the Farm

We recently recieved some great local corn, peas, and fingerlings. I couldn't wait to put them to some use. There was a table last night of two of the kitchen's French interns, so I figured now is a good time. I next cracked a lobster tail and poached it in some beurre monte, while I made a quick pea puree, shaved some fingerlings for chips, that I dusted with a little truffle salt and I used a few cobs of corn to make a creamy corn broth that I eventually frothed into an air with the help of some soy lecithin. For good measure I shaved some truffle onto the plate at the table, can't hurt right?

Avacado, Smooth and Creamy

It was about 10 years ago when a pastry chef I worked with, at the first restaurant I held down a sous chef role, made some avacado ice cream and it was perhaps the best tasting ice cream I had ever tried. Years later I told a Chef I was working under about it as he was preparing for a food competition, we worked on it a bit and he eventually won the competition! Now I wanted to try it again, this time as a warm weather bouche. I paired it with a grapefruit segment, tomato jam and lump crab meat. Damn, I love this ice cream, the fat from the avacado makes it so smooth and creamy! I'm getting fat.

Fun Beef Tartare

Some love it, some hate it. I love beef tartare, done right, my wife on the other hand would rather not even look at it, whether its done right or done perfect, she don't want it! This version of the classic has Maytag Bleu cheese, water crackers, black pepper and white truffle foam as garnishes. Man, I love this stuff!

I Remember Highlights Magazine, Do you?

Here are a couple pictures of a beef dish I made not so long ago, Steak Frites. Can you spot the differences??

Lobster Under Veil

Just a quick description, here is a vanilla butter poached lobster tail, tomato jam, fried arugula, and a veil of saffron gelee.

Watermelon Mimics Tuna

Here is a case of envy. This watermelon came to me and disclosed his desire to be ahi tuna. I did what I could do. I told the watermelon "this might hurt a little" and I plunged my knife right through him, the screams were deafening. With some squares of his rind in hand, I snuck off to a pot of pickling liquid and put the melon out of his misery. Moments later I pulled the melon out of the liquid and now, in his after life, he became tuna. Holy Hindu reincarnation!! Oh yea, also on the plate is black sesame tahini, fennel fronds, and a quenelle of fennel fluid gel.

I'm Hungry

Honestly, I can't think of anything better than this when I'm hungry. Yea, that is white american cheese in there, sometimes it's the little things!

Crabby Amuse Bouche

This is a bouche I did not too long ago. It is lumb crab, champagne vin., melon terrine and aged balsamic

"Spag. & Meatballs"

This is another familiar dish I tried to rethink in a not so familiar way. First I made a clarification of marinara, it came out perfect, almost as clear as H2O but with all the flavor of the classic sauce! The meatballs are a combo of 3 meats (lamb, beef and bacon) that I hand chopped together, formed and slowly poached in a little of the marinara "water". Next I made a simple Parmigiano Reggiano cracker with a bite of garlic bread. The garlic bread was a cut of fresh Italian bread that was pan fried in extra virgin olive oil giving it an extra crispy exterior and a warm doughy interior, I topped that with a quenelle of roasted garlic puree, red pepper flake and parsley. The "Spag." for this dish was accually pearl pasta or Israeli couscous that was cooked in the marinara "water" impregnating each pearl with the flavor of marinara thus givnig the dish the feel of having a red sauce without a red sauce. I finished the dish by frying the balls in a little olive oil and the assemblyof the dish began! Time to serve.

Richard Fish

Sometimes you have to use what is on hand. There is nothing attractive about this cut of fish. Friends don't let friends cut salmon.

Idle Hands

This is a picture of a crap load of stone crab claws I spent all night breaking down for a party. Mind you, the picture isn't the finished product I still had more to go plus I had to crack half the claw to expose the meat for service leaving the pinchers as a handle. they were displayed on a huge ice carving. I honestly enjoyed doing it, until after the party was over and we saw that they had eaten about 10% of what was cracked, at least they paid for all of it!

Just a simple foie plate I liked

First things first, the picture makes it look like the foie is seared a little too hard, trust me it was done just right. This was a course in a four course meal for a local restaurant group owner. It is very basic but delicious. It consisted of apple "risotto", golden raisin puree and seared foie, also it had cubes brioche(not pictured) fried in a pan of foie fat then dusted with freshly grated cinnamon tableside.

"dink make something weird for my family"

When a coworker came to me with that statement I wasn't too sure what to make of it. So I looked around and decided on this, single seared ahi tuna, orange dust, marinated edamame, pickled watermelon rind, candied ginger, powdered cilantro, puffed rice, and a watermelon sponge(not pictured; it hadn't made it to the plate yet). I called it tuna with garnishes. I guess it's weird, his family sure as hell thought it was, but they loved it all the same!

Boneless Buffalo Wings

This was a course on a tasting I did a few months ago. The gentleman who asked for the tasting asked for 6 to 8 courses of familar foods that seem unfamilar. I did my best and I just loved this conception of the classic American favorite! It has two confit chicken wings with the bones carefully removed, a celery salad, cold carrot puree, Maytag bleu cheese foam(not pictured; done tableside), and a sheet of house made buffalo sauce. The sauce sheet was great, they were cricspy at room temp but plyable when introduced to heat. All the latino guys in the kitchen were munching on the spicy left-over crisps!

Farm Fresh Amuse Bouche

Last night I presented tables with a bouche of vegetables from a local farm including a pureed custard of sweet potato, a creamy broth of sweet corn, and tips from the farm's first pick of asparagus, along with it was a lump of jumbo crab. The vegetables were so good! I just blanched the asparagus, and that was all it needed, great flavor. The corn broth was poured table side and I drank it up throughout the night, very clean and straight-forward. I plan on using more of these veg in the near future.

Ice Cream and A Movie

It was about five days ago when a co-worker and I worked on some ice cream and the flavor was chosen to be popcorn! I know I like popcorn and I know I like ice cream but would it work together? Damn if it didn't, accually it is perhaps one of my new favorite ice creams. Now onto working it into a feature dessert. I've been sending spoonfuls of it with some caramel to some lucky guests the past few nights before being presented with the bill, with a hugh response. I can't wait to put it together on a plate. (I'm thinking Cracker Jacks)

Me and My Trusty Spoons

It dawns on me now that I haven't named my spoons yet. They are the only tools I own that I have not marked with a yellow stripe. They are fine the way they are!

Random Old Photos

These are some random photos from a dinner I did for the Chaine des Rotissuers, in Jan '09.