hogballs and mountain dew

fun with extracts

2010-02-28T18:13:00.000-05:00

i'll be honest, we've been cheating a little bit, but damn we're having a good time! we've been using a lot of natural extracts when cooking meat sous vide. the first inspiration was the caramelized chicken thigh terrine we featured at the wine conclave. made by using caramel oil to coat chicken thighs, since then other successful expirements include: duck breast cooked with bitter orange extract, @ 50c for two hours, the rabbit bacon, previously mentioned in the whole animal post, we salted the bellies for twelve hours, then misted the rinsed meat with mesquite oil and transglutaminase, then stacked one on another to form a slab, then cooked for another twelve hours @ 67c. the featured photo is another flavor of the chicken thigh terrine. this time using pine oil, again transglutaminase is sprinkled on the thighs, formed into a terrine mold, and cooked @ 62c for six hours, we then seared the slices of the terrine, and paired the crispy thigh with a ragout of pine braised pine nuts, and the first morels of the season!

rabbits

2010-02-28T14:34:00.001-05:00

this spring sunday supper goes whole beast, offering an a la carte menu of small plates. kicking off march 21 with rabbits from big creek farm in rogersville, tn. followed by riverview farms pigs on march 28, easter sunday lamb dinner, then fowl ( i am still in search of a local source for whole birds, any info would be appreciated). below is the preliminary menu for the rabbit supper.

rabbit consomme
parsley root royale, rabbit confit agnolotti

rabbit bacon & eggs
slow poached local egg, brioche

brunswick stew
hominy, sea island red peas, tomato

potted hare
roasted kidneys, rhubarb mostarda, pickled ramp

roasted saddle
heirloom carrot, english peas, tokyo turnip

hind quarter
fermented red cabbage, trumpet royale mushoom

mortadella

2010-02-11T17:02:00.001-05:00

mortadella is an emulsified sausage, essentially bologna, the city of origin, in emelia-romagna, made by grinding meat into a paste, and emulsifying fat, also garnished with diced pork fat! we serve the mortadella as one of our meats @ $4, garnished with toasted pistachios and green olives. we use fresh hams for mortadella and shoulders for salami, due to the fat distribution of each. lean meat and fat are ground separately, the lean meat is then pureed in the food processor. fat, ice, and dry milk are slowly added. we make 12 -14 pounds at a time, in small batches, then stuff the sausage into a large beef casing and poach @ 65 c .

wine conclave

2010-01-31T19:08:00.000-05:00

wine conclave 1.30.2010

here's the menu we served at montaluce's wine conclave, each course paired with our wines. lunch went well, hopefully we made some friends! i borrowed a few photos from flickr, thankfully our guest were better photographers than me. a special thanks to all that attended.

chicken liver mousse: house made pickles, lavosh
montaluce chardonnay, 2008

smoked sunburst farms trout: boiled peanuts, fennel, meyer lemon, sweet tea
montaluce risata, 2008

coppa di testa: cabbage, apple, mustard
montaluce merlot, 2008

caramelized chicken thighs: baby carrot, cipollini, celery leaf, jus
montaluce cabernet, 2008

butternut squash cup custard: maple gel, oat crumble, whipped buttermilk

montaluce viognier, 2008

valentine's day weekend 2/13-2/14

2010-01-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

1st course:
cauliflower soup
almond, white chocolate

arugula salad
butternut squash, pork belly, sherry vinaigrette

lamb sweet breads
watermelon radish, smoked apple, mitake mushroom

2nd course:
beef confit
cipollini onion, creamed leeks, pickled pearl onions, lobster jus

sunburst farms trout
sea island red peas, baby carrot, young mustard

berkshire pork shank
carolina gold rice grits, brussels sprout leaves, huckleberry

3rd course:
butternut squash cup custard
maple gelee, oat crumble, buttermilk

apple & whiskey fried pie
ice cream,caramel

new year's eve dinner

2010-01-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

the pass
overly ambitious

chicken liver mousse
we cured the livers overnight in salt, sugar, tcm, and aromatics, then passed through a tammis and poached @65 for an hour. then whipped with butter. really nice!

arugula and pea shoots
the pea shoots came from our garden, the last of the year. tossed with arugula, white truffle vinaigrette, finished with quince, manchego, and oregon white truffles, which were nice for the $$$

black cod
the cod was beautiful from the coast of washington state, c/o foods in season. garnished with braised cucumber, boiled peanuts, lobster emulsion, and hackleback

cauliflower & white chocolate soup

2009-12-20T22:07:00.001-05:00

this is a nice soup, we found the perfect balance of cauliflower and white chocolate, then charged the soup to enhance the mouth feel. the crumble is made with smoked marcona almonds and mace. the stems are compressed with olive oil and vanilla.

new year's eve menu

2009-12-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

new year's eve is one of my favorite nights to cook. it's the last chance of the year to blow it out. the menu is always fun and challenging, which creates a special tension among the entire staff, but after the first seating all the kinks are worked out, and it time to have fun. this year we're offering a five course tasting @ $75 and optional $35 for wine pairing. see menu below. wines TBD

1st
cauliflower/white chocolate soup
smoked almond crumble

pea shoot & arugula salad
quince, "smoked" apple, manchego, truffle vinaigrette

2nd
chicken liver mousse
radish, sherry/maple gel, crispy skin

house cured steelhead trout
fennel, meyer lemon, chicharron

3rd
diver scallop
pork belly, parsnip, chamomile

veal sweetbreads
crispy risotto, baby turnip, chanterelle, apple/red wine

4th
painted hills short ribs
potato puree, cipollini onions, young mustard

black cod
braised cucumber, boiled peanuts, lobster sauce

dessert
TBD

riverview farms

2009-12-16T21:46:00.000-05:00

the first source i found when i moved to georgia is pork. my friend, tandy wilson from city house in nashville, gave me riverview farms contact info. the pigs are consistent, and perfectly proportioned. it sure is nice to have a nest egg of pig extras

sunday supper 12/13

2009-12-16T21:31:00.000-05:00

sunday supper is a great opportunity to be creative, try new things, and challenge the guest to try things that they wouldn't order. plus three courses for $26 isn't bad

arugula & pea shoot salad
quince, manchego, marcona almond, sherry vinaigrette

ciccioli
house pickled vegetables

buttermilk poached chicken breast
butternut, brussel leaves, chanterelles

georgia shrimp
lamb belly, sunchoke, asparagus, chamomile, meyer lemon

tiramisu

white chocolate creme brulee

dinner at todd weiner's house

2009-12-13T20:35:00.000-05:00

last tuesday we had the opportunity to cook for todd weiner. we put together a fun
menu, and had a great time cooking for mr. weiner, his wife sunny, and their friends.

veal sweetbreads-quince, smoked apple, preserved radish

roasted matsutake-as previously mentionsed

fish &chips- black cod, broken tartar sauce, cauliflower "fries"

beef tri tip confit-creamed leeks, pickled pearl onions, caramelized onion/coffee
puree

long peppercorn panna cotta- almond crumble, cranberry jam, mint puree

matsutake mushrooms

2009-12-09T22:55:00.000-05:00

these are beautiful matsutakes from foods in season, poached in butter at 75 c for 25 minutes then pan roasted; served with black burgandy truffle risotto, and a salad of pea shoots, freeze dried english peas, and white alba truffles

best chicken wings ever

2009-12-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

we poached these wings for six hours at 67 in buttermilk and tobasco. then fried.