Snooty Foodie and Menu Making

My friends at snootyfoodie.com bought Winn Meat Company’s  live auction item at the Signature Chef event last year and, after bringing a young one into the world, are ready for me to make good. My wife Carol, she does the flowers and anything else I need, her daughter Cassie and I will serve up the little shin dig for 1o at their place this Saturday. Being the ever efficiency minded chef that I am I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. Create a blog entry and menu for their party at the same time. I want to let you see what I’m thinking about when I put a multi course menu together.

The SF’’s, Janna and Alan Russell, are discriminating diners who would like to see a lot of small plates so this will be fun to put together. They sent me a list of items they and their guests are interested in devouring - shashimi or crudo, caviar, figs, chilled soup, heirloom anything, family style sides - beets, fingerling potatoes, creamer peas, duck, Wagyu beef, lamb, pork, lobster, crab, shrimp, cheese course and chocolate for dessert. Great ingredients equal great meals.  Let’s get started.

What is the most important thing that drives the menu? Seasonality(see "What I believe about food" on the About Me page). So let’s look at what is currently in season late summer. Lots of fruit - apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, raspberries, figs, watermelon and melons in general and mangoes. I love to combine sweet and savory so I have lots of choices here. Vegetables - green beans, corn, cukes, eggplant, TOMATOES, zucchini, and okra. Chanterelles and porcini will be great also. The fish world offers shellfish, lobster, salmon, halibut and tuna (hello crudo). A few assorted others I can use - arugula and and some other hearty greens. This will be easy, I’ll just go by Tom Spicer’s place on Fitzugh and get the best produce in town.

We have the ingredients now we need to think about the style and flow of the meal as well as the logistics of the host’s kitchen, any special dietary requirements and the amount of staff available. Since it will be my wife, Cassie and I prepping, plating and serving the menu will need to be largely prepped ahead with fairly simple presentations that can be executed quickly. Tapas style will work well. Lots of raw, marinated and room temperature items will make up the bulk of the menu with a few flashes of presentation mixed in. A few family style sides will work perfectly for this set up. The challenge with a multi course menu is you don’t want to repeat any of the main ingredients or flavors and you want to show a lot of technique - grilling, poaching, sauteing etc.

When I talk about the flow of the  menu I’m referring to several things - how will the hot and cold vs. light to heavier courses flow? Do we start slow and build to a rousing crescendo or weave several foodgasms into the mix? Do we have an hors d’oeuvre as guests arrive or start them at the table with an amuse bouche or both? And what about the wine? Unfortunately I’m allergic to wine so I will leave that to the SF’s. Remember this, I reserve the right to change my mind at anytime based on divine intervention, dreams or other attacks of inspiration.

I want the guests to have something as soon as they come in, why it’s the hospitable thing to do. So how about -

hors d’oeuvre

Ahi Tuna Shashimi, Avocado Puree, Soy & Serrano on Crisp Wonton

Get the juices flowing, velvety tuna contrasts with the crispy wonton while the salty soy tames the quick, hot flash of the serrano. Now when they sit down we’ll tease them with a tiny little flavor bomb.

Savory Amuse Bouche

Heirloom Tomato, Basil Marinated Mozzarella, Smoked Sea Salt & Four  Peppercorn Cold Shot

"Classic with a twist. Concentrated tomato juice, a hint of smoke a touch of spice and sweet basil held together by the chew of the cheese, they will definitely want more, but no, it’s just a taste an amusement for the mouth! Since heirloom tomatoes are so great and so in season I might have to use them again. I bought some really cool shot glasses, shaped like those coca cola glasses flared at the top, but about two inches tall."

From the Sea

Lobster Flan, American White Sturgeon Caviar, Parsley Creme Fraiche

"After to acidity of the heirloom tomato shot we need something creamy flan, luxurious and rich."

Jumbo Lump Gulf Crab & Ranier Cherry Salad, Local Honey - Lemon Vinaigrette, Nueske’s  Applewood Smoked Bacon, Toasted Almonds

"Time for something cool and refreshing. I’ll spoon this into a bib lettuce leaf and drizzle a little of the vinaigrette around the plate. The smokey bacon and lemon keep this dish from being to sweet and the almonds add a contrasting crunch."

Air

Hudson Valley Foie Gras & Texas "Sweety" Fig Stuffed Bandera Quail Breast, Shallot - Thyme Jus de Cailles 

"Oh my, these will be tasty morsels! I will lightly brine the quail to help retain its juices, season with S&P, add a sautéed slice of fig and slab of foie gras, tie and sear in the foie gras fat. This will take just a little reheat. I want to serve them mid rare to medium. The sauce is a brown quail stock with lots of shallots and thyme reduced (Cailles is french for quail). Foie gras loves sweet and poultry."

Duck Confit, Cavatapi Pasta, Mint Leaves, Baby Carrots, Blackberry Emulsion

"This dish could get heavy real quick, and with eleven courses that could get ugly, so the blackberries acidity will help cut the confit’s richness. These are no regular blackberries, they are Richter Farms blackberries, the best I have ever tasted! Check out the link to find out why."

Land

East Texas Watermelon Soup, Feta, Pickled Red Onion, Riesling Vinegar Syrup

"Time to cool things off again, it’s about 95 degrees outside! I will de-seed, the ones with seeds are usually sweeter, the red watermelon and blend it with some English cucumber then reduced it by about half to concentrate the flavor and strain it through a chinoise (fine strainer) and add lemon juice. Dice some yellow watermelon, toss it with the feta, evoo and onions, then mound this in the center of a shallow, chilled bowl. Ladle about 3 ounces of the red soup into the bowl and top that with a sprinkle of salt & pepper and a drizzle of the syrup. Wow".

Tellicherry peppercorn Grilled Berkshire Pork Tenderloin, Fresh Ricotta Toast, Coconut Rum Gastrique

Berkshire pork is a gift from God. Highly marbled, this heritage breed delivers all the flavor that has been intentionally bred out of most American pigs. Pork fat rules! The most important thing is…DON"T OVERCOOK IT! I beg you to cook it medium rare (130 internal temp) and absolutely no more than medium (140 internal temp) so you can savor its greatness! Pork and mango are best friends and the coconut flavored rum rounds out this concentrated  sauce. Yum."

Slow Roasted American Wagyu Chuck Flat, Wild Mushroom - Oregon Pinot Noir Ragout

What a way to end the entrees. This is a super rich cut off the chuck near the ribs that is already well marbled. Combine it with Wagyu and you have a unique and delicious hunk of beef. I want to use the ol’ reverse slow roast on this baby. Season the beef, lay the beef on top of some mirepoix and place it in a 200 degree oven. Cook to about 135-140 and let it rest for 10 minutes. Pour any juices into the mushroom ragout, don’t waste that flavor!

Sides

We need a few sides to round out the entrees. These can be passed family style.

Sweet Corn - Hatch Chili Spoonbread

Texas Zucchini, Noon Day Onion & Heirloom Tomato Gratin

Ginger Roasted Beets, Roquefort, Ellis County Spiced Pecans & Sherry Vinegar

 Sweet Amuse Bouche

Grilled Passion Fruit  Infused Cooper’s Farm Peaches, Richter Farms Raspberry Maple Syrup

I first had a dessert amuse bouche at the Mansion on Turtle Creek from Chef John Tesar, what a great idea. That was also one of the finest dining experiences of my life!

Artisan Cheeses

Sonoma Dry Jack, Societe Roquefort, Cave Aged Emmentaler, Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar, Robiola Bosina

"I don’t think a great, multi-course meal is complete without cheese."

Dessert

Miles of Chocolate "Trudgie" -  Pistachios, Crystallized Ginger, Hawaiian Red Sea Salt

This " Baked Chocolate Dessert" is hand made in Austin, Texas by its creator Miles Compton. Miles is quite a guy, I met him when I was at Central Market, and Austin is a perfect place for him. I call it a trudgie because it’s like a combo of chocolate truffle, fudge and brownie. With this huge meal I’ll serve half of a 2"x1" piece cut into a triangle. This stuff is incredibly rich and dense. The combination of  chocolate, pistachio, ginger and salt is unbelievable! Try a pistachio/crystallized ginger crust on salmon, it’s on like a neckbone!

I think they’ll like it, how about you? I’ll let you know how it went in a new blog.