Gravlox

One of the first dishes I learned to make when I started out was Gravlox. I was 16 years old and we were going to be serving Gravlox on the Thanksgiving buffet at my vocational school. I remember mixing the salt and sugar together wondering how salt could actually cook the salmon. After a few days of sitting in the cure weighted down by brick...Voila!!!!.. Amazing tender and meaty salmon slices that tasted great on a warm crostini. This is a tribute to that experience and an experiment for the new menu. I'm working on a southwestern influenced gravlox with Tequila and lime. The procedure is fairly simple: make a cure of 2:1 salt/sugar, bury the salmon in the cure, wrap and weigh down for 3 days depending on size of fillet until cure, wash the cure off before slicing and serving. This cure is salt, sugar, cumin seed, ancho chiles, fennel seed, lime zest, and cinnamon. The fish is rubbed with tequila and cilantro then buried in the salt cure. I've wrapped the fish in cheesecloth and weighted it down with a couple of large cans. I will take more pictures once it's cured and create a finished dish.

Cheese Course

There is nothing better than cheese, except maybe pork. I'm working on a new cheese course for the upcoming menu and I had some great samples come in for a tasting. On the plate, we have a drunken goat, cambozola, creamy gorgonzola, horseradish mustard harvati, smoked gouda, and 18 month gruyere. The drunken goat is very similar to a manchego with a subtle taste of goat's milk at the end, sweet and creamy. The cambozola is a favorite of mine and I enjoy the soft brie rind with a creamy blue interior. It's spreadable and great on a piece of baguette. The creamy gorgonzola was different, very sweet and earthy without the natural sharpness of a bleu. The horseradish mustard harvati was a favorite amongst the kitchen. It had a strong mustard tang with a mellow horseradish accent, very creamy and great with a piece of roast beef. The smoked gouda wasn't too impressive, light smokey flavor. The 18 month gruyere was nice, salt crystals were present but not overpowering. Very sweet beginning and salty finish, I'm thinking of pairing this with pumpkin bread. Overall, not a bad tasting and a few things to get excited about adding to the next menu.

Buffalo and Green Chile Pot Pies

While working on the new menu, I had the idea of doing a pot pie for an appetizer course. Pot pies are a classic American staple and the perfect comfort food when approaching the winter season. After going back and forth about how to make the shell, I decided on a basic profiterole (most people know them as cream puffs). I made the savory batter and baked off the airy little pastry pockets. Once they were cool, I filled them with some of the buffalo green chile mixture. The buffalo is ground and cooked with potatoes, corn, and poblano peppers in seasoned broth. After letting the staff taste this batch, I think that it's definitely a keeper for the new menu.

Automatic Service Charges

I've been recently browsing through some discussions on automatic service charges while dining in resort restaurants and would have to agree with the mass. It is always so discouraging to dine in an establishment that takes away your right to reward the waitstaff with a cash tip according to their performance. Since I work in a resort (Cheyenne Mountain), I think it's extremely important to realize what your clientele is thinking and how can you improve on their comments. I was extremely happy to return back from my Florida assignment to find out that we are no longer placing an automatic tip on the checks, except for parties of 6 or more. This change will really allow the staff to change their mentality when servicing our customers and strive to enhance the guests experience. The new focus and direction of the restaurant has been to become more of an ala carte establishment while creating a buzz that we offer more than just Sunday Brunch or Friday Night Seafood Buffet. In these economic times, most guests are looking for savings and value while spending their hard earned money.

Stuffed Quail with Smoked Cheddar Grits, Sweet Corn Puree, Pepper Confetti

Here is the remainder of the quail, inspired by a fellow chef in Naples, Fl. I was helping him try out some new dishes for an upcoming menu and he wanted to do quail, boneless. I thought that it was a great idea and decided that I wanted to use the same technique for my next menu. The wings, thigh bone, and legs are removed leaving a boneless quail. I then stuffed the quail with creamy grits, smoked cheddar, and roasted corn. After wrapping the bird in bacon (mmmhhh...), it is wrapped in plastic wrap to tighten and chill forming a perfect oval shape. I reduced some corn in honey, cayenne, and cream before pureeing until smooth in a blender. A colorful pepper confetti enhances the plate and gives the needed crunch for the filling. This dish will most likely be on the new menu coming up next month, it's nice to be home in beautiful Colorado Springs....

Quail Lollipop with Lavendar Honey and House-Made Queso Fresco

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, but I've been working in South Florida for the past month helping out another hotel. The executive chef put in his resignation and I was asked to come down and help out until the new chef was hired. It was extremely hot and humid, but beautiful nonetheless. Here is a picture of my amuse bouche for the night, Quail Lollipop with Queso Fresco and Lavender Honey. I had some leftover quail legs and thighs, so I decided to chop off the knuckles and pull the meat down into lollipops. The house-made queso fresco is simply hot milk with the addition of apple cider vinegar and kosher salt. Once the milk separates and the curd hardens, it's strained into cheese cloth for a couple of hours to dry. The cheese is crumbly with a decent amount of salt content. I finished with quail with some lavender infused honey.

Revised Wine Dinner Menu

After doing the tasting on Wednesday, I made some changes to the dishes and attached are the wine selections. I didn't have my camera with me the day we did the food, but I was extremely happy with the results. The dinner will be on the 26th of September at the Country Club of Colorado. If interested in attending please contact the restaurant for reservations (719) 538-4088:

Appetizer
Calamari Rellenos, Red Pepper Puree, Cilantro Chimichurri
Stuffed with Parsley, Shallots, Parmesan, and Smoked Bacon
Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand

Soup
Wild Mushroom Essence with Beef Cannoli and Horseradish Potato Filling
Melini Chianti Classico, Italy

Intermezzo
Green Tea Sorbet

Entrée Duet
Peppercorn Buffalo & Crawfish Scampi
Baby Spinach Leaves, Creamy Risotto, Heirloom Tomatoes
Juan Rojo Toro, Spain

Cheese Course
Chef’s Selection of Gourmet Cheeses and Accompaniments
Georges Dubeuf Saint Veran Chardonnay, France
Cruz de Alba Crianza, Spain

Dessert
White Chocolate & Berry Parfait with Aebleskiver Pancakes

Muscat De Beaumes De Venise, France

Upcoming Wine Menu

So we have decided that we are going to host our next wine dinner in September and have begun the process of getting pairings done. I just put together my first draft of the menu and will be conducting a food and wine tasting on August 6th. Once I taste the wines, it will be much easier to match the flavor profiles of each dish. Here is what I have so far:

Appetizer

Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese Tart

Grilled Artichoke Hearts, Arnoud Olives, Roasted Sweet Pepper

Soup

Wild Mushroom Tea with Rocky Mountain Beef Carpaccio

Salad

Crab and Avocado Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Entree Duet

Hot Smoked Salmon with Citrus Fennel Salad

Mission Fig Stuffed Pork Loin with Molasses Creme Fraiche

Dessert

Frozen Blueberry Parfait with Danish Pancakes

Foie Gras Carving Station

Here is a photo of a foie gras carving station that I helped with at a food and wine event. Michael Ginor is the owner of hudson valley foie gras and also author of the book "Foie Gras". When I asked him what we would be doing that day, he response was 3 different preparations of foie gras: a terrine, a flan, and a carving station. After looking at him puzzled, he said it would be just like prime rib in Vegas, excepts we would carve lobes of foie gras for the guests. We pan seared a couple lobes of foie gras and roasted them until they were warm in the center with some shallots and thyme. The foie gras was sliced and sprinkled with a pinch of clean sea salt as each guest walked up to our station. It's not very often that you get to work with such an expensive ingredient on a buffet style presentation.

One day your here and then your gone.....

Life is extremely short and you never know when it's your time to depart. I really believe that each moment is a gift and you should cherish them before they pass. A really good friend and mentor of mine recently passed away at the young age of 50 years old. His memory will always be of high quality ingredients, a passion for your craft, and good scotch. He was a great friend and an amazing chef that made everything seem so much more interesting and beautiful when he was involved. I hope that when I'm gone people will say the same about me and remember that I loved my craft and family. Take a second to step away from the constant rush of the kitchen, buzzing ticket machines, and clanging of pots from the dishroom to realize what's most important in your life. Rest in peace Bob Zappatelli....

Petite Prime Rib

This dish was apart of wine dinner that I hosted recently. The prime rib was cooked in smoked rock salt for 4 hours at 250 degrees. With the beef having such an intense flavor, only a small portion was served and the components really completed the dish. The potato puree was infused with horseradish, the tomatoes were roasted 4 hours slowly in olive oil until the flavor was condensed into an explosion of flavor. The garlic chips were the best part besides the beef. With a sharp mandolin, the garlic cloves were sliced thinly (similar to the razor in goodfellas) and brought to a boil in milk to remove the bitterness. After rinsing off the milk, the slices were deep fried in oil until golden brown and sprinkled with sea salt. I was really proud of the simplicity and thought behind this dish. Each guest raved about how amazing it was to have classic prime rib course on a wine dinner.

Housewarming

My wife and I just purchased a home in Colorado Springs, CO and threw our first party for some our friends and family. I knew that everyone attending expected some great food since I am a chef. I decided to go above and beyond their expectations and bought a 40lb pig for the party. You can imagine the suprise on their faces when they walked in the kitchen. The pig started out in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour and then it was turned down to 250 for the next 3 1/2 hours. The skin was perfectly crisp and the meat was so tender and succulent. I made a pineapple jalapeno bbq sauce to go with it that really put it over the top. Now I'm trying to figure out what else can I do with all this leftover pork. Any ideas????