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