Dessert Trio

For my Advanced Plated Dessert class we were inspired this week by a Japanese plate design. A few months back one of my students showed me a book completely in Japanese, but also completely stunning. One of the plates I kept in the back of my mind was the one pictured below. My class did this design complete justice and even bumped it up in my opinion~ We focused on a pear trio and used wild yeasted Lambic beer, pandan and Beehive cheese panna cotta to make it our own:

Pear Trio with Candied Nut, Squash Jam and Panna Cotta Mousse

Fig and Pear with Panna Cotta, Gingersnap and Balsamic

Pear Trio, Butternut-Coconut Jam, Honeycomb, Panna Cotta and Shortbread

Ode to Thomas Keller

This week we studied the French Laundry. Thomas Keller runs on of the best restaurants in the country. Although the cookbook was published in 1999, it still encompasses incredible technique and ideas. Here are a few dishes we tried to pay tribute to:

"Carrot" Salad, Carrot Powder and Lamb Chopper Cheese

Ceasar Salad: Parmesan Custard, Brioche, Romaine and Parmesan Tuile

Pineapple "Chop: over Fried Pasrty Cream

Foie, Sous Vide Root Vegetables and Caramel

You've Heard of Pork and Chicken...How About Some KANGAROO??

I always ask my class what they would like to learn/work with throughout the quarter the first day of class. I believe it's our job as instructors to go the extra distance to connect unique food with our "green" students. Most of my students wanted to work with more game meats. I took this opportunity to seek out a specialty meat provider and found Valley Game and Gourmet. I was able to obtain kangaroo, elk chops, venison loin, sweet breads, pheasant and foie.
Here are some of the dishes we created with our incredible proteins:

Elk Chop with Beet Tartare

Kangaroo Tartare with Gratin

Elk Chop with Lobster Mushrooms and Hubbard Squash

Edible Landscapes

For the first week of school in Art Culinaire we explored edible landscapes. The students made "soil" out of dehydrated black olives, dried figs and granola. We also designed plates from granite slates I bought at Home Depot. The end results were colorful and unique. Here are a few plates:

Wild Black Raspberries~

It's a Minnesota thing, well at least that's what I'm claiming until I find a slew of black raspberries in the West. Black raspberries remind me of railroad tracks. When I was growing deep in the woods we were surrounded by ponds, forest and railroads. Along the tracks grew wild black raspberries which we would pick each summer. Some summers were better than others and this summer was not a good one. But, there was a light at the end of the tracks that did hold plentiful black raspberries. After spending an hour picking berries and fighting ticks and pricks from the bushes, we had about three pounds of these beauties....it was a fine day. We decided to make freezer jam so we could stretch our love and labor of our berries deep into the winter months when we would need a friendly reminder of what summer was all about.

The begining of the picking.

The Cluster

Look Like Red Raspberries, But Just Un-Ripe Black Ones!

Here's To The Crew~

Thanks again for all your hard work! Here is who was part of the team for the 2011 Savory Palate~

Thanks Ryan, Ryan, Burtis, Alison, Monica, Jordan, Meryl, Ben, David, Yoko, Mo, Jeff, Eric, Owen, Issac, Trisha, Tina, Chris, Max and Jeff!

Final Week of Evening Restaurant!

Drum roll please...... This was our last night of restaurant for Spring quarter and also the final night of our evening service for The Savory Palate. The restaurant will now go to lunch service and be run by Chef Ramzy. Our dinner service for the past quarter was an another incredible success. It is and was always a pleasure to watch the students become more confident in the back and front of the house throughout the eleven weeks. Some of the dishes and food we designed this quarter were eye-opening and inspiring. A special thanks goes out to my students who showed respect and passion each day. Any local chef would be lucky to have them work for their restaurant.
Here is what the final week looked like:

AMUSE:  Santa Barbara Shrimp Sushi with Borage Flower (tastes like cucumber)

SOUP: Gazpacho with Spherified Mozzarella and Crispy Basil

SALAD:  Marinated and Grilled Octopus Salad

PASTA: Black Garlic Fettucine with Heirloom Tomatoes and Sunburst Squash

ENTREE: Duck Confit over Creamed Pearl Onions and Sunchoke Chips!

DESSERT: Funnel Cake, Italian Soda, Cotton Candy and Fruit Roll Up (All Home-Made!)



Week 10: More Special California Imports!

This week was another week where I was able to take a personal trip to California and bring the exclusive seasonal produce back to Salt Lake. I went to an amazing market in Petaluma where already there was: apricots, plums, nectarines, cherries, herbs and more! I tasted some of the best plums since last summer and decided to share the wealth with my students at the Savory Palate. I also brought some "bacon" avocados which were a new item for me. Although these avocados taste nothing like bacon, they have an very unique green skin and a creamy meat on the inside. Fact of the day: There are over 100 varieties of avocado out there~
Here is what week ten looked like:

AMUSE: Taste of Cheese and California

BREAD: Hazelnut-Stout Beer with Hazelnut Butter and Cherry Jam

SOUP: Chilled Mango with Bacon Avocado with Basil Powder

SALAD: Alligator Confit with Crispy Sunchoke

Pasta: Squid Ink with Crab and Garlic Scape

ENTREE: Halibut Cheek Duo: Sous Vide and Baked over Creamy Maple Polenta

DESSERT: Carnival Delight: Cotton Candy, Milk Shake, Doughnut, Fizzy-Pops and Ice Cream Sando

Week 9- Coming off the Holiday Weekend~

This week we only had one day to prep and then serve the following day. It's nice having a two-day service because you are able to work out all your kinks during the first day...this wasn't the case this week!
We had to make sure everything was done and ready to go. I really wanted to try a "gnudi" this week. Gnudi is a cheater gnocchi. Making gnudi involves ricotta and semolina flour and that's it~ Because it looked so easy we took it a step further and used fresh mozzarella, not the best idea! In the end we did more of a mini fried mozzarella bite, but most people don't complain about fried cheese. Here is a look at some of our other great dishes from week nine:

AMUSE: Puff Pastry Basket, Smoked Salmon Mousse, Sorrel, Peppadew Pepper

BREAD: Steamed Hong Kong Duo

SOUP: Chilled Melon with House-Made Bacon

    
SALAD: Ahi Tar Tar with Sea Beans and Edamame

 

   

PASTA: Fried Mozzarella

                                                  

ENTREE: Buffalo Flank Steak with Barley Buzzed Gratin and Radish

DESSERT: Celery Confit, Bleu Cheese Mousse, Fried Strawberry Sauce and Rhubarb Tuile

                                            

Week 8 "It's Not Your Mamma's Fried Chicken"

The menu this week really is beginning to show the talent of my students in Spring Restaurant. We played around with vegetable noodles (daikon), haute fried chicken and an amuse that sparked the palate. We are getting more amazing Spring vegetables including: ramps, green garlic, chive blossoms, radishes and peas! Here are some great dishes from week eight~

Amuse: Potato Chip with Chive Blossom, Black Garlic and Fennel

SALAD: Pineapple Carpacchio with Tangerine and Buttermilk Panna Cotta

PASTA: Daikon Fettuccine with Coconut Alfredo, Spring Peas and Tiger Shrimp

ENTREE: Mo's Fried Chicken                                                                                                                    

DESSERT: Textures and Flavors of Coffee with Blueberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

                                                                                                        

Lucky Number Week 7....

Week Seven is building up high expectations in the kitchen. The food and service are getting better and it's hard to keep up sometimes. We get used to food working out and plates having that extra "oomph"
This is also the time when some students begin to lose steam and a bit of motivation.
I am hoping we catch our breath so-to-speak and get back into our groove since we will be getting busier each week as the quarter comes to a close. Here is what Week Seven had to offer:

Amuse and Bread: Cheese Plate Duo

Soup: Bacon-Onion with Crispy Corn

Salad: Asparagus Panna Cotta, Wild Rice, Hazelnuts and More Asparagus

Pasta: Ramp Pasta with Beehive Rosemary Cheddar Bechamel and Figs

Entree: Wagyu Skirt Steaks with Fresh Creamed Corn and Fried Wheat Grass

Dessert: Flavors and Textures of Chai Tea and Honey: Macaroon, Caramel, Curd, Terrine