Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fall Menu

Just finished writing the first draft of the new fall menu for Craftwood Inn located in Manitou Springs, CO and I think it's a good first step.  Here is a small taste for now until we roll out on Monday....

Pastrami Spiced Ostrich
Golden Beets, Red Grapes, Cabbage, Fingerling Potato, Mustard Seeds, Cured Onions, Rye Croutons
 
Rocky Mountain Elk
Roasted Apple Risotto, Crushed Hazelnuts, Fontina, Nutella Powder, Wild Mushrooms, Arugula 
 
Red Deer
Rosemary Milk, Black Garlic, Potato Puree, Honey Marinated Figs, Root Vegetable Pickles
 
Nilgai Antelope
Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts,  Black Olive Dust, White Cheddar, Whipped Potato

Friday, September 14, 2012

A new chapter begins....

Brother Luck is new executive chef at the Craftwood Inn

teresa.farney@gazette.com
There’s a new day dawning for the culinary team at the Craftwood Inn, 404 El Paso Blvd., in Manitou Springs, starting with the hire of Brother Luck as executive chef. Luck was the award-winning executive sous chef at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort until 2010. He transferred with Benchmark Hospitality to take an executive chef position at a property in San Antonio, Texas.

“I am so excited to allow Brother to put his personal and professional mark on the cuisine at the Craftwood Inn,” said Dave Symonds, owner of the restaurant. “Truth be known, we have been ‘working on’ Brother Luck for some time and finally we were able to talk him away from the big corporate environment so that he can showcase his true talent.”

There had been a couple of executive chef changes at the Craftwood Inn in recent months: Ben Hoffer left Feb. 1 and was replaced by Dave Cottrill, who left just a few months later in May. Tim Richardson has been the interim chef.

Symonds has added other members to his food and beverage staff.

“Over the years we have assembled a team in the front house that he (Luck) is very comfortable with, too,” he said. “E.J. Kelley worked with Brother at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, running their dining room, and Steve Kander is our sommelier and he too worked with Brother at the Resort.”

Luck takes the helm of the Craftwood Inn kitchen Sept. 17.

“Expect to see exciting things from the Craftwood Inn,” said Symonds.

Call 685-9000. Visit craftwood.com.

http://www.coloradosprings.com/articles/teresa-16394-farney-chef.html

Monday, September 10, 2012

Farewell San Antonio Paella Party

 So yesterday I was invited to a Sunday dinner amongst friends and was totally surprised to find out that it was actually a surprise going away party for my upcoming departure.  Yes, I'm leaving San Antonio once again and returning back to Colorado in the next few days.  Leslie Horne (who is the maker of Aurelia's Chorizo..http://aureliaschorizo.com/... Amazing by the way) and Troy Knapp (Executive Chef of the Hyatt Hill Country Resort) got together and invited an all star cast of local foodies to send me off in style.  The biggest surprise of my arrival was that I had been given the task of cooking the main course for everyone which was to be a traditional paella...Now for those who don't know, this is the signature dish at our restaurant downtown "Las Ramblas" located in the Hotel Contessa and we serve over 250 of these a month (much smaller portions of course).  Leslie and I met at a local paella challenge a few months back and I enjoyed her Spanish chorizo so much that we started serving it in the restaurant.  I've known Troy for a few years and can always expect him to host a great party or bust out a flamenco guitar at any moment which of course he eventually did.  



As I was ushered into the kitchen and handed a clean apron, they began to show me all the ingredients provided for my paella challenge.  Opening the refrigerator I found smoked pork belly, chicken thighs, black mussels, littleneck clams, head on shrimp, spanish chorizo, calamari, and of course 2 bags of calasparra rice sitting on the counter.  After securing some onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, and saffron I enlisted my sous chef who was happily drinking in the crowd.  Once he was given an apron as well (Yeah, I totally made him help) we went into the back yard and fired up the propane tank with an enormous paella pan waiting for our arrival.  After some quick knife work and stock preparation we started to build the flavors one ingredient at a time.  The smoked pork belly was rendered in hot fat and then set aside.  Next the chicken thighs were caramelized in the pork fat and removed.  The head on shrimp got a quick dance in the pan before we started to make the sofrito.  Red peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, saffron were all cooked together before we added the calasparra rice.


The rice was toasted before adding the first baptism of stock which was fortified with the chicken bones, lobster shells, shrimp shells, and vegetable scraps.  Now the hard part began which required socializing, enjoy a few glasses of wine, snacking on some great tapas, and monitoring the temperature to ensure the rice was cooking evenly.  Once the rice started to swell, we would add a few more ladles of stock and slowly simmer again and again for about 20 minutes.  Towards the end of the cooking process, we started to garnish the paella rice with all of our reserved proteins.  At the very end of the dish, I cranked the heat up to finish reducing the liquid and begin building the famed soccarat, a crispy almost burnt caramelization that occurs on the bottom of the pan ... After a final nod of approval between my sous chef and myself we started serving up plates and enjoying the fruits of our labor.  I felt truly honored to cook for this amazing group and also throw down with my sous chef Joseph Carrejo one last time.  This was a great way to close this chapter on my career and begin moving on to the next.  As a chef, I truly love cooking for others but even more so when it's people who share my passion. - Brother Luck

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Lamb Shoulder, Squash Blossoms, Brussel Leaves, Dried Tapenade, Fingerling Potato Confit, and Queso Fresco

This dish was inspired was two different products that arrived straight from the farm.  The first was some lamb shoulders from Twin County and then 2 clam shells of baby squashes with blossoms still attached arrived this morning.  We wanted to create a dish that felt like the in between time of summer leaving and fall arriving.  The lamb shoulder was rubbed with lemon, garlic, rosemary, and garlic.  After I tied the shoulder into roulades with butchers twine, I made a salt crust.  The egg whites were mixed with some salt and packed onto the lamb shoulders.  We roasted them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees before cracking the shells and slicing thin medallions of lamb.  The squash blossoms and fruit were served in multiple variations; baby squash parpadelle, raw squash blossom petals, and zucchini preserves.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Texas Quail, Foie Gras Torchon and Powder, Duck Confit Arancini, Blood Orange Gastrique, Pickled Fennel, Red Wine Onions, Rabbit Succotash

So this dish has been evolving in my head over the last 3 or 4 days and I've finally had some time to put my thoughts on the plate. I'm thinking the dish will pair better with poached pheasant breast and  making the arancinis out of pheasant leg confit to utilize the whole bird.  Overall I'm happy with this dish and will continue enhancing the flavors over the next few weeks before it's hits a dining room table.  The foie gras torchon is sliced and garnished with foie gras powder (foie fat from poaching liquid solidified overnight and mixed with tapioca maltodextrin).  The arancinis (meaning little oranges resembling their color and shape) are hand rolled spheres of creamy risotto with chopped duck confit folded in at the last minute.  The quail breast are glazed with a blood orange reduction and underneath is a mixture of rabbit pancetta, pistachios, sweet corn, portabello mushrooms, and red bell peppers.  Pickled fennel, red onions, and fronds garnish the dish with fresh blackberry to balance the fat and acidity. 

Olathe Sweet Corn

Cooking locally sometimes makes you forget about cooking regionally.  I just received a case of Olathe Sweet Corn from the Tuxedo Corn Company out of Colorado and it's amazing!!!  This corn is so sweet and taste great charred on the grill or simply sauteed with a cube of butter.  This case of fresh corn has inspired my kitchen equation of the day:  Great ingredients + Great technique = Great Food.

Rabbit Pancetta Lardons

Here is the rabbit pancetta I discussed in an earlier post after we decided to "meat glue" the bellies together after butchering some whole rabbits for the restaurant.  These were wrapped, pressed overnight, cut into lardons, and rendered down until crispy. It's very surprising how much the cure shines through the caramelization and doesn't overpower the natural rabbit flavor. This is definitely a great use for rabbit bellies which normally would have been tossed into the stock pot and cooked along with the bones.  My sous chef Nick gets the credit for this one and it's already being considered as a component for the many dishes to come out of my kitchen.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Foie Gras Torchon

 
What is a torchon????  Upon one of my sous chef's returning my copy of The French Laundry cookbook, I was inspired to make a foie gras torchon and add it as a component to a new dish I've been writing.  Torchon literally means dish towel referring to the technique of wrapping the poached foie gras in a side towel and hanging in the refrigerator overnight. This is such an easy way to prepare foie gras and showcase why it's considered a true delicacy.  After asking some of the cooks what does torchon mean I thought it would be worth a few minutes to share the process.  After soaking the foie gras in milk overnight to remove any extra blood, it's marinated in kosher salt, white pepper, granulated sugar, and pink salt overnight. The foie gras is then shaped into a cylinder using parchment paper and then tightly bound with cheesecloth using butchers twine to secure on both ends and also a few ties around the center to hold it's shape while cooking. I poached the torchon in seasoned chicken stock for just under 2 minutes and then quickly placed into ice water to stop the cooking process. After a few minutes of chilling, I wrapped it tightly in a dish towel and secured again with butchers twine on both ends. The foie gras torchon is now hanging in the cooler overnight before I will slice into and begin finalizing my new dish.  Stay tuned.....
 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Rabbit Pancetta - Stage 1

My sous chef Nick Lachman had a great idea to start making pancetta out of the rabbit bellies after we finish butchering them for the restaurant.  The creative think tank has begun and we've started some great discussions about incorporating this technique into a dish component.  With the addition of "meat glue" aka transglutaminate, we can transform these miniature bellies into one large piece that is cured and hung just like a pork belly.  Here they are being cured beforehand to see what is the best process.