Week Three of Spring Restaurant!

I'll have to admit that last week felt a bit like    X-mas, and it wasn't because I was skiing in a foot of fresh powder! The abundance of Spring produce makes a chef giddy with delight. If you were lucky enough to open our fridge at school you'd see: rhubarb, fiddle heads, white and green asparagus, corn shoots, ramps, radishes, fava beans, watercress, pea tendril, sorrel and chocolate mint. This is an amazing start to building a menu. Here is what we were able to do with our Spring harvest:

AMUSE: Rhubarb Sushi

BREAD: Brie and Sage Biscuit with Molasses-Fig Butter

SOUP: White Asparagus with Smoked Pea Tendril and Rhubarb 'Chips'

SALAD: Greens, Wild Rice Crouton, Goat Cheese Mousse, Figs

PASTA: Spinach Ravioli with Zucchini and Ricotta, Ramps, Sunchokes, Saffron-Coconut Froth

ENTREE: Crayfish, Blue Cheese Polenta, Hominy-Ramp Pesto

DESSERT: Confit Pineapple En-Papillote, Seville-Meyer Lemon Sorbet, Shaved Biscotti

Spring Restaurant Week 2

This week was highlighted with some incredibly creative dishes. To begin with we re-created a Noma inspired dish for our amuse. Noma is a Norwegian restaurant that was just voted the best restaurant in the world. We also gave an upscale twist to our soup based on Cup of Noodles.

AMUSE: Edible Parmesan Rocks

SOUP: Dried Carrots, Beets and Onion with Vegetable Consomme

SALAD: Zucchini Two Ways: Grilled and Crudo

Pasta: House-Made Chive Blossom Pasta with Caper Butter

Entree: Brisket with Crepes and Slaw

DESSERT: Parmesan Cake with Goat Cheese and Honey Tuile

Spring Restaurant Has Begun!

Week One of Spring Restaurant at the Savory Palate has started. The food this week was seasonal, exciting and pretty smooth for the new students. We did fried gnocchi for the first time which turned out like golden-molten nuggets. We also had some interesting flavors such as avocado and sorrel in our dessert-

AMUSE: Lemongrass-Citrus Shooter

SOUP: Shishito (Pepper) Soup with Cream Cheese Froth and Caramelized Onions

SALAD: Beet Cesar with Beet Green Parmesan Crouton

PASTA: Fried Potato Gnocchi with Black Trumpets and Blood Orange

ENTREE: Shrimp and House-Made Cajun Sausage with Rosemary Beans

DESSERT: Sorrel Coconut Panna Cotta with Avocado Puree and California Bay Leaf Ice Cream

Week 9

This week we tried to make pasta out of rice instead of flour. We toasted the rice in the oven to get it nice and nutty and then ground it up to make a "flour" The pasta had an interesting texture and was a nice substitute for anyone who can't have wheat. We also made mock mushrooms for you felt like you were in a forest while you enjoyed your s'mores....
Here are a few other creations we came up with:

AMUSE: Peanut Butter and Persimmon Gelee

BREAD: Grilled Mini-Pizza, Supreme!

SOUP: Apple-Juniper

SALAD: Arugula, Pickled Fruit and Drunken Goat Cheese

Pasta: Toasted Rice

ENTREE: Fish and Chips

DESSERT: S'Mores

Week 8

Our amuse this week was a spin on a traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This was achieved by taking a savory peanut butter mousse and combining it with a persimmon-cinnamon reduction. It was then topped with a candied persimmon slice.

The bread course was a contemporary take on a classic German pretzel. The pretzel sat along side a Beehive cheese fondu for dipping.

The classic roasted tomato soup was souped-up (pardon the pun) with the addition of a olive charcoal and a chiffonade of basil. Olive charcoal is made by taking focaccia bread and combining it with olive puree and squid ink and then baking. The squid ink is used to achieve the dark black color of charcoal.

I know what you're thinking. There is no wayI would find a salad consisting of curried carrots and celery root with a bacon cider vinaigrette in Utah. Well, you're wrong, we did it this week!

What could possibly follow a salad of that magnitude? How does a potato risotto sound? Need a little more? Ok, we'll finish the risotto with Parmesan and mascarpone cheese and serve it with balsamic grilled mushrooms and a chive oil. Happy?!

Braised pork sits atop a tamale pancake. This mountain of flavor is the centerpiece our Entree. And what brave Sherpa of deliciousness could scale such a summit unscathed? Why, only an avocado chimichurri and a radish salsa, of course!

Dessert this week was a bit of a let down... NOT! It was one of the most brilliant inventions since sliced bread. (Note, this course did not include sliced bread.) What it did include however is a plethora of culinary delights more commonly reserved for breakfast. How did they do it you ask? (You ask a lot of questions by the way) We made a Chai ice cream and coupled it corn flake granola and an egg shaped panna cotta.

Week 7

We surprised our guests this week by presenting them with an amuse of beet lollipops. We made these by roasting and slicing the beets and fixing them atop skewers.

This weeks' tasting menu began with a bacon lavosh accompanied by caramelized cippolini onions. Lavosh bread is typically very crispy and resembles more of a cracker.

Our soup was banana squash, with a pear and wassail gelée garnished with a black molasses crouton.

In keeping with our tradition of using beets on a weekly basis, the students chose to get the most flavor out of the most well known member of the Chenopodiaceae family through the process of roasting. The roasted beets were set along side wild mushrooms, pickled grapes and a Verjus vinaigrette.

For our pasta course we decided to create a rosemary-cheddar souffle with an apple-juniper berry reduction.

The Entree was braised lamb with a winter berry gastrique along side a savory bread pudding. A gastrique is a sauce produced by a reduction of vinegar or wine, sugar and usually a fruit.

The dessert was a Greek yogurt crème brûlée with zucchini bread and bacon chai jam. The bacon jam was made by first crisping the bacon then slowly reducing it into a sauce made with apple cider vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup, onions and spices. The Greek yogurt gave the crème brûlée a cheesecake-like flavor.

Bringin' the Heat - Week 6

Dinner service went from having about 12 people on Tuesday to an overbooked, full house on Wednesday. This week's menu flowed around Thai flavors. Being as the fact we had two full days of dinner service, we took advantage of the opportunity to fix aspects of the menu that we weren't the biggest fans of on the first day. We were able to adjust the menu and improve the dishes. I was really happy with the adjustments and I think the diners were as well. The biggest change came to our pasta dish. On Tuesday's dinner service thick soba noodles were served in a room temperature broth. To improve the dish for the second day of service, the noodles were coated with a Thai peanut sauced, served warm with Asian Slaw. It was a delightful change both aesthetically and taste.

Amuse Bouche

Shrimp Spring Rolls with Bell Peppers and a Soy-Hoisin Gelee

Bread Course

Onion Bread with Beehive Rosemary Cheddar Butter

Soup Course

Potato, Asiago, Garlic Soup with Bacon Arugula Gelee

Salad Course

Butternut Squash Terrine with Potato Honey Bread and Huckleberry Gastrique

Pasta Course

Udon Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce, Asian Slaw, Pickled Cucumbers, Edamame,

Pomegranate Seeds with a Caramelized Onion Crisp

Entree Course

Thai Style Halibut with Fried Coconut Risotto Cake, Curry Sauce, and Braised Pineapple

Intermezzo Course

Cucumber, Lime, Pineapple and Apple Granita

Dessert Course

Chinese Five Spice Fritter, Tamarind-Honey Ice Cream, Cilantro Whipped Cream and Sesame Paint