gnocchi with braised lamb shank

ingredients:

red wine braised lamb shanks (see recipe July 4th posting)

1 lb russet potatoes 

3 egg yolks

flour

parmesan

kosher salt

sea salt

freshly cracked black pepper

directions:

1.  prepare the braised lamb shanks.

2.  bake the russet potatoes on a baking tray lined with kosher salt.  when potatoes baked, scoop out the insides.  grate potatoes either using a potato ricer and any grater will do.

3.  add the egg yolks, parmesan, sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste to the grated potatoes. mix well.  slowly incorporate some flour into the potato mixture using a folding method until the potato "dough" hold well together without sticking to your hands. 

4.  roll out the potato dough and make gnocchi.  (you can look it up on youtube if you need a visual.) 

5.  heat up a large pot of salted boiling water.  while the water is heating, remove lamb shanks from the sauce and reduce the red wine sauce further to a thick gravy consistency.  shred off the lamb meat with tongs and return to the sauce. 

6.  cook the gnocchi for about 1-2 minutes until they float to the top.  drain gnocchi and lightly toss in the lamb sauce.  garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.  

quinoa vegetable soup

ingredients:

beef marrow bones
pork bones
chicken bones
veal stock
chicken broth
kale
yukon gold potato
yellow onion
garlic
carrots
celery ribs
baby portabello mushrooms
corn
roma tomatoes
tomato paste
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
red chili flake (optional)

directions:

1.  boil all the soup bones with veal stock and water.  lightly season with salt and black pepper.

2.  cook the quinoa in the rice cooker the same way you would cook rice.  use chicken broth instead of water.

3.  prepare your mise en place.  chop the garlic, onions, carrots, celery ribs, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, and kale.  cut the kernels off the corn and dice the potatoes into chunks.

3.  remove the bones from the stock.  add in all the vegetables except for the kale.  season with salt, black pepper, and some tomato paste.  (chili flake optional if you like spice)

4.  remove the meat from the pork and beef bones, especially the tendons attached to the beef bones.  chop up the meat and add it into the vegetable soup.  discard the chicken bones.

5.  cook the soup until all the ingredients have time to develop flavor.  season with salt and black pepper to taste.  cook the kale for a minute or two in the soup before serving.

to plate:

1.  put some quinoa in the bottom of a bowl.  ladle soup over quinoa and finish with a few grinds of black pepper.  serve immediately.

caviar canape, potato rosti, crème fraiche, crumbled egg, chive

ingredients:

caviar- sevruga pictured

potatoes

white onion

eggs

panko

crème fraiche

chives

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

directions:

1.  make the potato rosti first.  grate peeled potatoes into a bowl of water.  this prevents browning/ graying of potatoes. strain potatoes and plop the potatoes onto a clean towel.  squeeze out as much of the water as possible then put potatoes back into a bowl.  grate a small white onion, squeeze some of the liquid out, and add to the potatoes.  the potato to onion ratio I used is about 4-5 smallish medium potatoes to onesmall white onion.  add about 3 egg yolks, and season with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.  mix.  depending on how wet the mixture is, add panko to hold it together for frying.  in a flat pan, heat up olive oil over a medium flame. press the potato mixture into a very flat pancake and fry the potatoes for about 5-8 minutes on each side till gold brown.  drain on paper towels and let it cool.  once cooled, you and use a cookie cutter to cut out individual mini rostis.

2.  prepare the crumbled eggs.  fill a small pot with cold water and place eggs in pot.  set your stove to medium heat and after about two minutes, turn up the heat to medium high.  this prevents the eggs from cracking due to drastic temperature change.  once it begins a rapid boil, set a kitchen timer to five minutes. 

large eggs may need six minutes.  when the timer is up, put eggs in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.  when eggs are cooled, peel and crumble the eggs into small pieces. 

3.  get your mise en place ready. caviar, potato rosti, crumbled egg, crème fraiche, and chives.  dab a bit of crème fraiche on each potato rosti.  top with some crumbled egg, then top with caviar.  garnish with chive. then enjoy with some champagne. 

*this picture is shown with the same ingredients sans the potato rosti.  I used crispbread underneath for these.   

bacon infused egg frittata, kale, yellow onion, potato

ingredients:

bacon (preferably applewood)

eggs (buy pastured if possible!)

potatoes

kale

yellow onion

garlic

cayenne pepper

fine sea salt

pepper 

*you can make this with mostly egg whites too for the health conscious; instead of using bacon, you can just use extra virgin olive oil

directions:

1. peel then cube potatoes and cook in salted boiling water.  set aside.

2. trim kale and blanch in salted boiling water.  set aside.  when cooled, squeeze out extra liquid and chop.  

3. slice onions and mince garlic.

3. whisk eggs with a bit of water and season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

4. render bacon in a le creuset braising pan (or regular cast iron will work) over medium low heat.

5. saute onions in bacon fat, add garlic, kale, potatoes.  season as you go.

6. stir in egg mixture and cook for a bit.

7. bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven until eggs are set.  broil for a minute or so if you want to brown the top. serve with extra cayenne on the side/ tabasco/ ketchup if preferred.

seared filet, bone marrow, butter braised yukon gold potato and rutabaga

ok... so there are six components to this plate. i will give directions for each component and then give directions on how to put it all together.

1. seared filet of beef
2. roasted bone marrow
3. sauteed spinach
4. butter braised yukon gold potato/ rutabaga
5. black trumpet mushroom and golden chanterelle garnish
6. red wine jus

don't worry, it's pretty straightforward.

ingredients:

filet mignon (preferably grass-fed)
bone marrow segments
bacon
spinach
rutabaga
yukon gold potatoes
black trumpet mushroom
golden chanterelles
garlic
chives
rosemary
thyme
red wine
beef stock
chicken stock
butter
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt/ maldon sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

directions:

1. prep red wine jus first.  pour red wine into saucepan over medium heat. smash garlic cloves. toss garlic and a sprig or two of rosemary into wine and let it simmer till it's reduced by half. when reduced, add in beef and chicken stock to taste, salt, and a couple good grinds of black pepper.  strain through a fine sieve and set aside.

2. brunoise the yukon gold potato- i like using this variety of potato because it holds very well and the yellow is a great contrast to the orange rutabaga- and brunoise the rutabaga.  heat up a pan, sear off bacon slices to render the fat and flavor from the bacon, add in rutabaga, and saute for a minute or so before adding in lots of butter.  keep in mind you need enough butter to cover the vegetables.  cook over medium heat for a bit before adding the potatoes in.  braise till rutabaga and potatoes are tender and cooked through.  add salt to taste. keep warm.

3. drizzle olive oil into heated pan and lightly saute spinach with minced garlic. salt and pepper to taste then set aside.

4. prep mushrooms and saute with olive oil over high heat with a bit of minced garlic and thyme.  (its better to saute the black trumpet mushrooms and chanterelles separately) set aside.

5. place bone marrow in an oven safe dish and roast for 17-20 minutes at 450 degrees.

6. season the filets liberally with salt and freshly cracked pepper then sear off the filets to your liking.  (medium rare or rare plus is what i like) let the beef rest for 5 or so minutes under foil.

plating directions:

before plating, heat up red wine jus, sprinkle chives into the potatoes and rutabaga and warm through. mound some of the spinach on a white plate.  top the spinach with the filet, and top the filet with some of the black trumpet mushroom and golden chanterelles.  carefully place bone marrow segment next to the filet.  using a spoon, plate the potato and rutabaga in a horizontal line in front of the filet and marrow.  to finish, spoon the red wine jus over the filet.  finish the bone marrow with some maldon flaky salt if desired.

then pig out.

*first photo taken without the red wine jus, this one with