New Recipes #32-41 - Tasting Menu Bits & Pieces
While I'm giving myself credit for new recipes, I should go back and mention the ones that I did as part of the recent tasting menu:
Cucumber-Dill Sorbet We'd had a cucumber sorbet at our first meal at Journeyman and I really liked the flavor, but found that one too sweet, so I went looking for a different approach. This recipe calls for vinegar that gives the sorbet a citrusy sour note that worked very well in a palate cleanser. It froze very hard, so you either need to thaw it well before serving or declare it granita.
Pear-Goat Cheese Crostini Sadly, this recipe is not online. Basically you toss nuts (the recipe called for walnuts, which don't sit well with one of our guests, so I used pecans, which worked very well) in brown sugar and a little bit of honey and pear slices in butter and brown sugar and roast both of those, then put them on crostini spread with goat cheese and topped with arugula. This is a fabulous combination of flavors, with everything balancing for a nearly perfect bite.
Creamy Parsnip Soup With parsley root out of season and artichoke hearts feeling more springy to me, I turned to parsnips and chose this recipe because it wasn't a sweet version. It had quite a little kick of black pepper/parsnip at the end, and with crumbles of guanciale on top it was very nice, but I think the creamy artichoke soup is still my favorite.
Celeriac Puree Since the next course was going to have mashed potatoes, I went with celeriac under the poached fish with chorizo, and chose this recipe. It worked beautifully and added a light citrus note to the dish. I think mashed potatoes are even better, but this was a nice way to get something different on the table.
Roasted Leg of Rabbit with Dijon Mustard Sauce I had hoped to saute paillards of boneless rabbit loin, but since those weren't on offer, I went with legs instead and actually managed to debone them myself without making a dog's breakfast of the project. I used this recipe, which worked well. The sauce was excellent and the chestnut-mashed potatoes added an earthy, nutty flavor to the whole dish that I really enjoyed. I was unable to find whole chestnuts of any kind at this season, but I lucked upon a can of chestnut puree, so I just went with that.
Apple-Porcini Pate With the tasting of aged Reypenaer (6 months, 12 months and 24 months) I served this pate made from chicken livers, apples, onions and the fresh porcini I found at Russo's. I would like to have gotten the texture even smoother, but it was fine, and made a very tasty contrast to the sharp flavors of the cheese.
Maple Pots-de-Creme I think this was one of the best things of the evening and I'm very excited to learn how ridiculously easy they are. I used this recipe and topped them with fresh strawberries, which were the perfect complement to the flavor. I think there will be many pots-de-creme in our future--I might even break out the blow torch and finally learn to make creme brulee!
Gingerbread Pear Cakes Since I don't really do chocolate, I'm always searching for a rich contrast for the final dessert course and this recipe really fit the bill.
Ultimate Vanilla Ice Cream With the gingerbread-pear cakes I served a dollop of my first vanilla ice cream, working from this recipe, which really lived up to its name. It's delicious and the creamiest ice cream I've ever made--and we're almost out, so I should get busy on another batch.
Nut Brittle This was sort of a failure. I made the first batch in too small a pot and it boiled over and never reached the desired temperature, but it seemed a shame to waste it, so I poured it over the nuts (almonds, pistachios and pecans). Rather than the brittle described in this recipe, it turned into chewy stuff and when we cut it up and put it in a container it flowed to fit the container and became mixed-nut chews. They're delicious and easier to chew after a week or so of sitting around, but they're not brittle. I tried again, in a bigger pot, and this time I did achieve brittle, but not before I had severely burnt the bottom of the pot (it took four days of successive soakings with Comet to get it clean). Fortunately, burnt-caramel is one of Jason's favorite flavors, so he convinced me it wasn't a total loss and I served both batches as "a selection of nut chews and brittles" and they were quite popular. I'm pleased to have made something edible, but I think I'm going to leave candy-making for another phase in my cooking development.
Cucumber-Dill Sorbet We'd had a cucumber sorbet at our first meal at Journeyman and I really liked the flavor, but found that one too sweet, so I went looking for a different approach. This recipe calls for vinegar that gives the sorbet a citrusy sour note that worked very well in a palate cleanser. It froze very hard, so you either need to thaw it well before serving or declare it granita.
Pear-Goat Cheese Crostini Sadly, this recipe is not online. Basically you toss nuts (the recipe called for walnuts, which don't sit well with one of our guests, so I used pecans, which worked very well) in brown sugar and a little bit of honey and pear slices in butter and brown sugar and roast both of those, then put them on crostini spread with goat cheese and topped with arugula. This is a fabulous combination of flavors, with everything balancing for a nearly perfect bite.
Creamy Parsnip Soup With parsley root out of season and artichoke hearts feeling more springy to me, I turned to parsnips and chose this recipe because it wasn't a sweet version. It had quite a little kick of black pepper/parsnip at the end, and with crumbles of guanciale on top it was very nice, but I think the creamy artichoke soup is still my favorite.
Celeriac Puree Since the next course was going to have mashed potatoes, I went with celeriac under the poached fish with chorizo, and chose this recipe. It worked beautifully and added a light citrus note to the dish. I think mashed potatoes are even better, but this was a nice way to get something different on the table.
Roasted Leg of Rabbit with Dijon Mustard Sauce I had hoped to saute paillards of boneless rabbit loin, but since those weren't on offer, I went with legs instead and actually managed to debone them myself without making a dog's breakfast of the project. I used this recipe, which worked well. The sauce was excellent and the chestnut-mashed potatoes added an earthy, nutty flavor to the whole dish that I really enjoyed. I was unable to find whole chestnuts of any kind at this season, but I lucked upon a can of chestnut puree, so I just went with that.
Apple-Porcini Pate With the tasting of aged Reypenaer (6 months, 12 months and 24 months) I served this pate made from chicken livers, apples, onions and the fresh porcini I found at Russo's. I would like to have gotten the texture even smoother, but it was fine, and made a very tasty contrast to the sharp flavors of the cheese.
Maple Pots-de-Creme I think this was one of the best things of the evening and I'm very excited to learn how ridiculously easy they are. I used this recipe and topped them with fresh strawberries, which were the perfect complement to the flavor. I think there will be many pots-de-creme in our future--I might even break out the blow torch and finally learn to make creme brulee!
Gingerbread Pear Cakes Since I don't really do chocolate, I'm always searching for a rich contrast for the final dessert course and this recipe really fit the bill.
Ultimate Vanilla Ice Cream With the gingerbread-pear cakes I served a dollop of my first vanilla ice cream, working from this recipe, which really lived up to its name. It's delicious and the creamiest ice cream I've ever made--and we're almost out, so I should get busy on another batch.
Nut Brittle This was sort of a failure. I made the first batch in too small a pot and it boiled over and never reached the desired temperature, but it seemed a shame to waste it, so I poured it over the nuts (almonds, pistachios and pecans). Rather than the brittle described in this recipe, it turned into chewy stuff and when we cut it up and put it in a container it flowed to fit the container and became mixed-nut chews. They're delicious and easier to chew after a week or so of sitting around, but they're not brittle. I tried again, in a bigger pot, and this time I did achieve brittle, but not before I had severely burnt the bottom of the pot (it took four days of successive soakings with Comet to get it clean). Fortunately, burnt-caramel is one of Jason's favorite flavors, so he convinced me it wasn't a total loss and I served both batches as "a selection of nut chews and brittles" and they were quite popular. I'm pleased to have made something edible, but I think I'm going to leave candy-making for another phase in my cooking development.