Creative Cheesecake Demands a Standout Display

Here is a great article about a local charity event called the "Glass Slipper Ball" that I participated in this past weekend. The best part was that our booth display was showcased as the main picture and everyone loved my "Goat Cheesecake and Bacon Jam".

Food Glass Slipper Ball rocks impressive eats
Posted by Matthew Schniper on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 7:20 PM

Want someone to vote for you? Then give 'em a candy bar.
That's how the Blue Star won the people's choice vote for Best Dessert at this year's Glass Slipper Ball that took place this past Saturday at the Crowne Plaza.
As their entry into the chef's competition (divided into appetizer and dessert categories), Blue Star pastry chef Alicia Prescott and crew provided a diverse table of beautiful, miniature, housemade chocolates and candies. (Get it? Candy bar).
In the savory category, chef Bill Sherman of Amuzé Bistro won his third Glass Slipper award inside the four years the event has existed, this year's people's choice for Best Appetizer. (He won best app in 2007 and best dessert in 2009.) His dish, the Three Little Pigs Cassoulet, consisted of roasted suckling pig atop a white bean stew which included smoked ham and Colorado-raised Russian wild boar sausage, all drizzled in chive oil and sun-dried tomato paprika oil.
Not to detract from these audience-voted winners — who rightly deserve acclaim — but Indy intern Bryce Crawford and I agreed on two other outfits as our personal favorites from the evening.

First, in the appetizer category, Brother Luck from the Cheyenne Mountain Resort produced a surprising and totally unique chevre cheescake cube with a bacon jam walnut crust. (This from the guy who last year served a white-chocolate-butter-covered lobster tail at the Colorado Springs Chorale's Chef's Gala. The Gala, by the way, is coming up on Sunday, Feb. 21 at the Broadmoor and tickets are still available.)

Second, in the dessert category, Margarita at PineCreek's Eric Viedt and Cathy Werle wrestled with a dry-ice cooler full of citrus-espresso mascarpone semifreddo which they paired with a chocolate Sacher Torte and candied beets and orange rind.

Proceeds generated by this annual dine-and-dance benefit the Zonta Club of the Pikes Peak Area , which is part of a global organization dedicated to advancing the status of women. This year, Zonta named TESSA, a local nonprofit working against domestic violence and sexual assault, as its major recipient of Glass Slipper Ball monies.
If you've never attended one of these foodie fundraisers built around the talents of our local chefs, let me briefly explain the format: Dress up nice; nab a vacation package or more modest silent auction item; walk from booth-to-booth gathering food samples (returning to your table to quickly dine-and-dash); vote for your favorite chefs and dishes and then dance off the full belly.
Though pricey, the evening makes for a great date night and your contribution goes to a good cause. According to Pikes Peak area Zonta Club president Laura Stamp, the roughly 350 attendees helped raise nearly $23,000 in proceeds.
Stamp says the event managed to draw the same number of attendees as last year, a surprise in this economy. "Flat is the new up — and that's a victory," she jokes, quoting something Craftwood Inn chef Jeff Knight quipped to her.

ON FOOD: Local chef's cooking classes pack 'em in

I recently taught a cooking class on our new restaurant concept "Colorado Fusion" and was fortunate to receive a great review from the local foodie of Colorado Springs. Please take a second and read this week's food section about my class:

January 21, 2010 9:55 AM
TERESA FARNEY
THE GAZETTE

Brother Luck is like a rock star when he teaches classes at Chefs Catalog. He never lacks for a full class.“I had enough on the waiting list to fill another class,” said Kathleen Weintraub, culinary specialist for Chefs Catalog who coordinates the classes. It’s no wonder. Luck, the executive sous chef at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, has taken the local culinary scene by storm, winning several chef competitions. And he has introduced an exciting new à la carte menu at the resort. The restaurant has had a great reputation for its buffets. Now it’s going to build a reputation for its order-off-the-menu option.“That’s my baby,” Luck told the class, referring to the new menu. “Tonight, I’m going to show you some of the new dishes.”

The theme of the class was Colorado Fusion, the style of food he is preparing for the new menu.“The fun part of the Colorado Fusion menu is it has lots of different spices,” he said.

Most of the recipes he taught us featured spicy chiles — Spicy Goat Cheese Dip, Poblano Cheddar Soup, Jalapeño Ice Cream. And there were enough cooking tips and interesting new ingredients introduced to keep foodies of all levels enthralled.“One thing I want to be sure of is that you can go shopping and find all the ingredients I use this evening,” he said. “I had a man from a class call me, wondering where to find passion fruit puree. I don’t want that to happen again.”

The number-one tip for working with hot chiles, like jalapeños, he said, is to remove the seeds and white membrane inside the pod.“Then chop the pepper very finely,” he said. “You don’t want to kill someone with a big bite of hot pepper.”

The first recipe he made was the ice cream.“It takes the longest to get chilled, so it can be churned,” he said.Then he whipped up the Spicy Goat Cheese Dip, possibly the best thing I’ve tasted in a long time. And why not? With three types of cheese zipped up with smoky chipotle in adobo sauce and heated until smooth and creamy, this dip is one recipe that I’ll be making often. Another tip for the dip: Use Alouette herb cheese.“You can buy it at any grocery store and it already has great flavor,” he said.The next recipe, and one I adored, was the Poblano Cheddar Soup.“Making soup is about building flavors,” he said.

And his tip for making sure the Cheddar cheese melts smoothly? “Toss the cheese in cornstarch,” he said. “That will protect the fat so it stays creamy and smooth.”He surprised us with a new-to-me ingredient: huitlacoche (wheet-lah-KOH-chay).“It’s corn truffle in Mexico,” he said. “Farmers here call it smut.”The nickname wasn’t surprising after he opened the can. Its contents were sort of disgusting looking: blackish gray and slimy.According to inmamas kitchen.com, huitlacoche is the edible fungus on corn. It has an earthy, delicate flavor. Luck sautéed it with onion, garlic and some other spices to use as a coating on salmon. Whatever you want to call huitlacoche, I call it delicious. You can buy it at Hispanic stores.

Ghost Chilies

One of the best parts of cooking is the unlimited number of new ingredients. Our pastry chef brought in some "Dried Ghost Chilies" for me to use and I have no idea what to do with them. As you can see, my first precaution was to put on some gloves before touching them. They are ranked as the hottest chilies on the planet according to Guinness World Records and are used to ward off elephants by grinding into a paste and rubbing on the outer city walls in countries like India. I ask myself after reading this, "who would want to eat such a thing". Maybe this is the difference between ordering your curry 1-10. Besides playing a practical joke on someone, my culinary mind is currently blank when considering possible uses. If anyone has any experience or suggestions, feel free to leave them on my comments section.

Raw Food Luncheon

The first Charlie Trotter book that I ever read was called "Raw". I had gone to the book store before work that night and wanted to gain some inspiration from some of the new cookbooks, a really cost effective way to decide if you want to buy them. I was blown away at the high level of cooking this book offered and the pictures were amazing. The book was based on a cuisine called the "raw food diet". The diet was exactly that, everything you eat is raw and nothing is heated above 118 degrees to ensure that the natural nutrients are preserved. Today I was challenged to create a small luncheon based around this concept. Creating a meal from only raw foods is extremely challenging and my chef hat goes off to anyone who manages to stay true to this lifestyle. I did four different dishes that were all within the raw guidelines. I started the meal with a pickled vegetable salad with asparagus, fennel, carrots, radishes, beets, and bell peppers. The next course was raw cauliflower cakes with heirloom tomato and watercress salad. The main course is salt cured salmon with jalapeno, jicama, and cucumber avocado puree. I finished the meal with a pineapple springroll filled with honey, pecans, mango, pear, and berries. I am glad to have taken on this educational challenge and learn a few new tricks when approached about raw "cooking".

Cinnamon Peach Empanada with Jalapeno Ice Cream

It seems as if I'm in some sort of dessert mode lately and the calories are killing me for it. This dessert is something that I created for an upcoming cooking class that I'm teaching on 1/11/10 about "Colorado Fusion" cuisine. The concept is based on utilizing Colorado ingredients with a southwestern flare. An empanada is a simple thing to make and I personally enjoy using puff pastry for the flaky texture and deep golden color. The peaches are diced and tossed in spices, corn starch, sugar, and lemon juice. Simply fold the pastry over the peaches and crimp the edges with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. The jalapeno ice cream is a nice surprise because it's extremely subtle with a hint of spice at the end. The lime zest that has been grated into the ice cream creates a balanced flavor between the chile and vanilla bean. Placing a scoop of jalapeno ice cream on top of the warm peach empanada fresh out the oven makes it a symphony of hot and cold textures. I'm seriously considering placing this dish on the dessert menu this spring so please try the recipes and tell me what you think.

Cinnamon Peach Empanadas
2 Tbl Cornstarch
½ cup Granulated Sugar
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch Salt
6 ea Peaches (peeled, seeded, chopped)
2 Tbl Lemon Juice
2 sheets Puff Pastry
¼ cup Egg Wash

Procedure: Toss the cornstarch, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, peaches, and lemon juice together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Roll out the puff pastry and cut out 8" circles. Place the peach mixture in the center, fold the pastry over into a half moon, and seal together with a fork on the edges. Brush the empanadas with egg wash and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and puffed. Serve warm with ice cream.

Jalapeno Ice Cream
1 ea Jalapeño (Seeded and Chopped Fine)
1 ea Lime (Juiced and Grated)
1 cup Water
2 cup Granulated Sugar
1 ½ cups Milk
1 ½ cups Heavy Cream
9 ea Large Egg Yolks
1 Tbl Vanilla Extract

Procedure: In a small saucepan bring jalapeno, water, and 1 cup of sugar to a boil. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Bring milk, grated lime, and cream to a scald. Whisk egg yolks, with the remaining sugar and add hot cream mixture in small portions while constantly stirring. Once the cream is tempered in with the egg mixture, place back in saucepan on medium heat. Slowly stir until custard is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool completely before freezing in an Ice Cream Maker.

Intense Chocolate with Strawberries and Cream

I'm starting to create the Valentines menu and found a flourless chocolate cake that is amazing and had to be shared with everyone. The cake is easy to make and then it's showcased by adding some vanilla bean ice cream and amaretto soaked strawberries. The cake is started by bringing coffee, butter, and sugar to a boil and pouring over bittersweet chocolate shavings. The hot chocolate mixture is added to whipped eggs, salt, and vanilla until tempered. Strain the mixture into a cake pan and bake in a water bath at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting and dusting with confectioners sugar. The strawberries are soaked in amaretto and sugar for 3 hours before serving. The vanilla bean ice cream is freshly churned and topped right before going out. This will be the dessert course for our valentines menu in the restaurant after a multi course wine dinner.

Enjoy the recipe:

1 cup Bittersweet Chocolate

12 oz Unsalted Butter

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Coffee

6 Large Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp Salt

Ice Fishing

A few of the guys at work managed to talk me into ice fishing with them this week and I ended up going to try it out and say that I've done it. We drove up the mountain early in the morning to about 10,000 ft and ended up at Antero Lake. The snow wasn't blowing too hard but the thermometer read -6 degrees when we pulled up to the frozen lake. After unloading all the equipment, tents, and gear we started our journey onto the center of the lake to set up and start fishing. You can bet that I was bundled up with multiple layers of clothing to stay warm and even wrapped my 3 pairs of socks with plastic bags to keep warm, none of that helped by the way. After setting up the tents, we drilled holes into the lake and set up the fishing poles. Now I'm a city kid and have never even considered walking onto a frozen lake, let alone to cut out holes and then sit down to start fishing, pure madness. Within the first 10 minutes, I had caught my first rainbow trout and was ready to go home but they laughed and said we were just getting started. After a few hours of my toes being numb and both hands shivering nonstop I had caught 7 trout and kept two of the larger ones. The only negative besides standing on a frozen lake was the snow storm that hit us on the way out. The wind was blowing profusely and we had to trudge through almost a foot of snow with all the gear uphill. It was a complete white out and it took over an hour to get back to the truck, a true workout that had me sore the next day. Overall, I had fun and as a chef, really enjoyed the fresh fish but don't plan on ever ice fishing again, I have enough sense and patience to wait for spring. Here are some pictures from the trip....

Peanut Brittle

This is the time of the year where one of my favorite snacks starts to appear on coffee tables across the country. Peanut Brittle is extremely easy to prepare and makes a great gift for those multiple secret Santa gift exchanges. I made this recipe tonight for a component of our "amuse bouche" (a small bite to excite the palate, courtesy of the chef). The peanut brittle is broken into smaller pieces and topped with a pepper crusted goat cheese truffle. Here is the recipe for peanut brittle in case you want to take a shot at it.

2 cups Granulated Sugar

1 cup Light Corn Syrup

1/2 cup Water

2 cups Peanuts (crushed)

2 Tbl Unsalted Butter

2 tsp Baking Soda

Procedure: Mix the sugar, syrup, and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add the peanuts and cook the syrup on high heat until 300 degrees (use a candy thermometer). Remove the pot from the heat and add the butter/baking soda. Mix until smooth and all the butter is melted. Pour the mixture onto a greased sheet pan or a silpat and spread thin with a spatula. Allow to cool before breaking into pieces.

Bacon Pizzette

I found a use today for the bacon powder and everyone was blown away with the flavors of the meal. I made some pizzettes and decided to spread bacon jam, truffle ricotta cheese, and caramelized onions on the dough. I baked the pizzettes and garnished with some frisee lettuce, watercress, Parmesan, and bacon powder. The different bacon components really made these small bites exciting and full of "wow" factor. As you bit into the crunchy crust, the bacon jam gave a sweet accent, and then salty finish. The greens were refreshing with the creaminess of truffle infused cheese. The bacon powder was a great touch because it dissolved on your tongue releasing tons of bacon flavor in each bite. I think we have found a replacement for grated Parmesan on pizza and it's bacon powder.

Brine Your Turkey Please!!!!!

There are always so many people that ask me each year how to properly roast a whole turkey for their Thanksgiving feast and my immediate response is usually "do you brine the bird"? A brine is extremely important because it has multiple benefits before the cooking process even begins. A brine is simply a salt water solution that allows the salt water to flow through cell walls of the protein and also carry in flavor by osmosis. Once the process is complete, the extra moisture and seasonings stay inside the bird creating a more flavorful and juicy turkey, which we all want for Thanksgiving. A brine is simple to do and will build your confidence when cooking for the family during the holidays. Here is a basic recipe for an average sized turkey that I've used over the last couple years to impress family members and make them wonder what secret I have as a chef when cooking turkey. Please feel free to be adventurous and add some other flavor components like chipotle, molasses, orange juice, ginger, cloves, etc.... Remember, this is a basic brine that will work as a base or simply by itself.

1# Kosher Salt

1# Brown Sugar

1 1/2 Gallons Water

1 Tbl Black Peppercorns

5# Ice

12# Turkey

Procedure: Place the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and water in a large pot; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before chilling completely. Add the chilled liquid to a large bucket, cooler, or pot (large enough to submerge your turkey with the liquid), add the ice. Place the turkey (head first) into the liquid and completely submerge (use a few plates to keep the bird under the brine). Allow the bird to soak overnight or at least 8 hours in a cold place like the refrigerator. Remove the bird from the brine and rinse it off completely. Dry thoroughly before trussing the bird with butchers twine (it is extremely important to truss the bird for even cooking and presentation purposes) Check the following for a good video on trussing a turkey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auQB7D_xB0I. Season with a dry rub or infused butter underneath the skin and inside the cavity. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and roast for 3-4 hours, I usually check for 155 degrees with a calibrated thermometer in the thickest part of the bird (between the leg and thigh). Remove from oven and allow the bird to rest for at least 30 minutes, this process will redistribute the juices in the bird and also continue cooking to 165 degrees. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and good luck, feel free to contact me if you have any questions bluck@benchmarkmanagement.com

Bacon Powder

Now here is another form of bacon that I'm working on incorporating somehow into a dish, ideas are always welcome. I had some bacon fat leftover from brunch today and decided to mix it with some Tapioca Maltodextrin (about 60% fat and 40% tapioca maltodextrin) and create a "Bacon Powder". Tapioca Maltodextrin is a modified food starch that stabilizes foods with high fat content. When mixed with any oils it will create a powder form and dissolve when in contact of moisture, such as the tongue. I haven't decided where to use this in the restaurant, but I like the idea of having it around for specialty functions. The best part of playing with this technique was teaching the staff and watching their reaction to bacon powder dissolving on their tongues while turning back into a liquid again.

Trout Skin

One of the biggest challenges of cooking "skin on" fish is getting that crispy texture evenly across the fillet. I put a new dish on the menu that consists of Ruby Red Trout with Bacon Jam and Tamarind Honey. The dish is great, but I've noticed that the cooks struggle with the crispy skin technique during busy periods. I figured that it was a problem that needed to be resolved and started working on a solution. I remembered a technique that involved removing duck skin and baking it until crispy to be served as a garnish with duck breast. First, I carefully removed the skin from the trout and placed each side by side between 2 silpats. I put 5 sheet pans on top of the silpats and 1 underneath to keep the skin flat while it baked 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. After cooling the results were above and beyond my expectations. The skin was translucent and really crispy with a salty taste, it reminded me of all the fish chips I enjoyed growing up in San Francisco by Chinatown. After the fish was cooked, I glazed it with the tamarind honey and bacon jam. Right before the dish goes out to the guest, it is garnished with the crispy trout skin. I think that it's important to continue questioning techniques and searching for better alternatives. My wife told me last night that I'm the type of person that always thinks there is an answer for everything and I just have to find it. I never realized how extremely true she was. I think the reasoning is I enjoy learning and continuing my education while pushing others around me to do the same. Good luck on searching for your next alternative and cherish the journey...