Great first weekend with the new spring menu

We just released the final portion of our spring menu here at Tastings and it is looking great.  Though our spring season in New England has lagged a little bit, we are still able to get our hands on some of the best of the best in local produce, meat and fish. 

One of my favorite dishes on the spring menu so far is the fluke!  We are getting fluke from a group called Wild Rhody.  This is a great group of guys who’s passion for fresh fish led them to develop a system where, using QRC codes we can see a picture of the captain, know the date the fish was caught, and know the waters from which the fish came from.  Working with Wild Rhody and this system of trace and trust gets us one step closer to being universally sustainable.  We are serving the fluke seared with a truffled English pea puree and some crispy fingerling potatoes.  The dish is finished with some plancha roasted spring onion.  It’s a very simple dish but such a wonderful combination of flavors.  It also reminds me a bit of having fish and chips in London years ago!

Another one of my favorites is the asparagus salad.  It plays with the idea of asparagus with a hollandaise sauce but we do it instead with a poached egg.  These are some really delicious eggs from White Barn Farm right down the street in Wrentham.  The yolk is especially thick and fatty making them perfect for this dish.  We are also putting some country ham cured in house  on the dish.  We sauce the dish with a parsnip vinaigrette and some Dijon aioli and finish the plate with a fingerling potato hasselback (basically a fingerling potato sliced thinly almost all the way through, so still held together).  It is another simple yet delicious dish.

I think that’s the whole point of a spring menu:  dishes that are very simple but highlighting the delicate and unique fresh flavors of spring!  I don’t feel its necessary to do a whole lot to screw with the flavors of these ingredients.  Just let them be.  We just came out of some really heavy winter dishes so its time for freshness!

More to come on the new spring menu!  Including but not limited to our new PORK and some rabbit depicted here!

BEttER Late than Never

    It's a little belated but I've been wanted to post a re-cap of the Peak Organic Beer dinner from Tuesday the 16th.  First things first, from first to last course it was a ton of fun.  The menu was fun, the passed hors d'ouvres were fun and the people were fun.  It felt very light hearted and playful.  Rob Lucente, a co-owner of Peak was a great presenter and his passion for beer really shows.  Its much like my passion for food.  We built an awesome menu that people really enjoyed and paired quite well with the beers.

    Two months ago we had the idea to do a beer dinner and were deciding on beers to use.  We contacted Peak Organic because of their story and their philosophy.  They were a small start-up business based on the love for great beer and local organic ingredients.  Many of their beers use locally and organically grown malts and hops.  Its refreshing to see some of the same qualities we hold for food being evident in a brewer. 

    A few weeks later we had Rob in with some samples.  The two beers i was absolutely blown away by were the nut brown ale and the imperial hefeweiszen.  I loved the nut brown because it was so dynamic and mysterious.  It didnt tell you what it wanted to be paired with, it seemed to not know itself.  This was a very fun quality in a beer.  It was a bit of a challenge but in the end i feel the beer was giving the consumer an opportunity to manipulate it how they want.  The hefe was just over the top, huge alcohol, huge flavor, very strong.  I love it though.

    For first course we did a leek and lobster terrine.  We inlayed some beer steamed lobster tails into a terrine of butter poached leeks.  This we paired with a simple house pickled vegetable remoulate and a smoked tomato "caviar."  Many claimed this dish as their favorite.  I loved it because it was so striaght forward flavorwise and playful at the same time.  This we paired with the IPA which was very unlike an IPA.  It was light and crisp, left you feeling ready for more, not like some IPA's that let the hoppiness bog down the pallet. 

    For the second course I chose the Imperial Hefeweiszen.  I knew i wanted something with some brighter flavors and higher acid but still a good level of righness to settle the hefe.  We came up with a apple tarte tatin with goatcheese and black walnut gremolata.  This was finished with some toasted coriander for a bit of a floral finish.  It was the wild card but it worked well with the strong hefe and made a beautiful pairing.  We made it in the style of a traditional tarte tatin with a layer of goatcheese.

   One fun thing we did was a granita of Peak Organic Pomegranate Wheat; added a bit of sugar and froze the beer, scraping it every hour or so. 

    For the entree course we prepared a whole roasted pork loin with a gratin of zuchinnis, beet mustard, and a black IPA hollandaise.  Needless to say we served this course with the Black IPA (IPA Noir).  This IPA is a heavy hitter it is dark as night and very strong with notes of coffee, cocoa.  I wanted to make sure we got some real earthy flavors into the dish to parallel the beer while having some brighter flavors to offset it. 

   For that Nut Brown Ale I chose dessert.  Everytime I tried to think of a course for this beer i kept coming back to dessert so I decided not to fight it but just go with it.  Dessert it was!  We made some coffee and tea truffles by steeping the heavy cream for the truffles in coffee and tea respectively.  We reduced some of the nut brown ale and folded into some whipped cream for the dish.  We finished with some pine nut brittle and chocolate soil!

    It was a great night, lots of fun and I cant wait to do another dinnerwith Peak in the near future!  I love the challenge that their beers pose to creating a whole menu around them.  I love their philosophy and their support of local and organic.  If you like supporting local beer and local food, then keep an eye on Cronicle where the dinner will be featured in a special on beer!

   For now I must focus on our upcoming knock your socks off Silver Oak and Twomey wine dinner in september!!!

A Farmer's Chef

   One of the best things about having a restaurant outside of the city is how close we are to the food.  There are a handful of farms within 10 miles of the restaurant that have beautiful produce to pick from.  And moreover, theres a plethora of wonderful farms markets in the area.  I spent this morning at the Franklin farmers market with Tyler Harris of T's Greens. 

    Tyler has a small operation that is doing big things.  Tyler has passion.  He seems very laid back but to see the excitement in his eyes when he talks about what he grows or when he hears what we are doing with his produce at the restaurant is inspiring.  I mentioned my past blog post about art in reference to food and he told me he has been thinking about art in reference to food as well.  He compared himself to the guy who makes the paints and us to the painters.  It was an inspiring comparison. 

    Tyler usually comes in a couple times a week with a small cooler of greens, chickpeas, and wheatberries so rarely do I ever get the chance to see his true bounty.  The dude's got a lot of great stuff to offer! beautiful tomatillos and husk cherries, great peppers, hot and sweet.  Also, a KILLER greens mix.

    It was a lot of fun seeing the Franklin market this morning.  I didnt spend a ton of time there as restaurant duties call but it was exciting to see what all of the local farmers were offering.  Its important to keep in mind that this is often their lively-hood.  And as a chef, I'll admit it is incredibly difficult to support individual farmers.  Many restaurants rely on one or two purveyors where we can get everything from cheese, to onions, to beets, to ice cream.  It's incredibly easy. 

   The road less followed, the more difficult road is supporting local farmers.  It means more leg work, careful ordering, changing a menu regularly due to daily availability.  It means driving to them rather than them always coming to you.  But in the end its about sustainability, supporting the community, and terrior.  I really want people to go out there and see these markets.  I want people to try something new, pick something up you havent used before and cook it at home.  Taste the earth you live on.  These local farmers are doing great work and we all need to make the extra effort to support them.  Stop by and visit Tyler and let him know the people from Tastings sent you and that you want some delicious greens or husk cherries.  Ask him how he prepares them.  Theres a lot left to learn here.

Beer

    Cliche much? A chef who loves beer?  In preparation for our beer dinner with Peak Organic Brewing Co. next Tuesday (August 16) I felt it important to share with you the origins of this dinner and many like it. 

    I've always felt beer has been undervalued in the culinary world; living in the shadow of fine wine and cocktails.  Afterall, at first mention of beer thoughts gravitate toward pizza, wings, and burgers.  Thats why I first got into pairing beer with food.  For me it was somewhat of a chance to take the road less travelled; to try something different and to some extent more challenging. 

    The First beer dinner I orchestrated was at Sel de la Terre in Natick about 2 years ago.  It was a ton of pressure and a ton of stress but in the end a huge success.  I paired food with beers from haveril brewery, ipswich brewery, smuttynose brewery, and mayflower.  Everyone loved it and I had a great time doing it.  What was best is that all the pairings worked marvelously.  The beer brought out new flavor profiles in the food and the food accented the beer perfectly.  Beer Nut Norman Miller of the Metrowest Daily News stopped by and enjoyed the 3 course tasting menu with us. 

   I went on to do these dinners while still at Sel de la  Terre as well as when I was at Union Bar and Grille with chef Keenan Langlois.  At UBG we focused our efforts at pairing strictly with Bostons beloved Harpoon Brewery.  Now we look forward to a dinner with Peak Organic Brewing Company out of Portland Maine.  Peak is a very humble, very down to earth brewery who seems to stay close to their roots.  They support local farmers growing organic hops to create their delicious varieties of unique beers.  An
IPA like ive never tasted before,  an incredibly deep black IPA, an imperial hefe that packs a punch, and an extrodinary nut brown ale with a mystifying depth of flavor are a few of the varieties we will feature on Tuesday's dinner. 

    The menu pulls from the flavors of the beer.  All too often I create a menu based on a concept, a nostalgia, or a theme product.  Here I couldnt help but highlight the beer.  There is so much going on within each beer's flavor profile that I could not ignore.  This is truely a role reversal in my head and Its a really great opportunity to work with such a dynamic product.  Did I mention its local and organic?

    Be our guest at the upcoming dinner and get a chance to taste the cutting edge of the beer world.  Get a chance to see the way beer and food can interact on ones pallet.  This dinner is not to be missed!

And though it has nothing to do with the beer dinner some house made andouille sausage with pork from an unlucky black tamworth at Brambly Farm...just for good measure. cheers!

art...work....

   In the final days of Dale Chihuly's glass blowing exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, I thought it pertinent to discuss the influences between art and food.  I went to the exhibit recently and was amazed at some of the works of art Chihuly displays, many of them themed around nature.  Certainly an extravagant example of nature but nature nonetheless.  It got me thinking about...well food to be quite honest.

   Often times in the kitchen we draw from nature for inspiration on food.  How things go together in natured definites how they should go together on a plate.  Marco Pierre White spoke of serving woodcock with huckleberries because thats what they eat.  Those flavors already course throughout the birds body and create a natural pairing; an implicit flavor profile.  This is art.

  We also derrive many of our presentations, from nature with the guest response "its so beautiful I dont want to eat it!"  But they must!  Thes best technique Ive found in plating food is to present the food as it was in nature, as it should be.  Just as Dale Chihuly presents glass as nature, we present food as nature.  I was contemplating this thought in conjunction with our beet salad at Tastings last night.  On an elongated plate the roasted beets are covered with wheat berries and baby greens.  Through these greens you can see bits and pieces of the beautifully colored beets, as if they were just peaking from the earth.  This is art.

    It was interesting to see Chihulys garden "plated" on an elongated surface, glass growing naturally from the "earth" as it were.  vines, flowers, rocks were all present.  At the end an overwhelmingly powerful piece of glass to show the strenth of this "wild garden".  And the beauty of this piece was all natural; pulled from reality as gardens grow.

    In the end I think this idea of art mimicking nature, food mimicking nature, and art and food mimicking eachother leads to the comfort that food will always be here.  No matter what, food is nature, food is art, and food is passion, and at our core these are three things we need.  It is part of being social; it is part of being associated with a culture. 

   The next time you find yourself in a restaurant with a beautiful plate in front of you.  EAT IT.  thats what its there for as nature intended!

earth

    I just got back from one of the better dining experiences I've had in a long time.  I went to earth in Kennebunkport, ME.  First of all, earth is a seasonal restaurant openned by Boston chef Ken Oringer.  I was told about earth by an ex-coworker of mine who's friend went to take on the position as head chef at earth.  The restaurant has only been open 2 months but seems to be doing great things.  As the name would imply, farm to fork is their operation.

   earth is in a "resort community" known as hidden pond, and believe me, it is incredibly hidden.  It really has the feeling of a secret garden because when you do finally reach the restaurant situated among log cabins, dirt, wood chips and trees, it seems like an ordinary "lodge".  Out back however is a full blown garden with all sorts of vegetables, picked daily (or hourly) for service.  The scope of the vegetables and greens includes raddichio, frisee, chickory, delicata squash, myriad tomatoes, herbs, fennel and peppers.  It was an absolutely beautiful site.  It was also really exciting to see chefs go out and pick herbs and vegetables throughout the duration of our dinner. 

   Our meal included a delicious tuna tartar with quail egg and nori emulsion.  Beautiful presentation.  I also had their cavatelli with fresh english peas, mint, and pecorino.  The skirt steak was absolutly delicious as well and everything was beautifully presented.  I think the majesty of eating in a garden made the experience that much better.

   I know this post sounds a bit like a yelp review but I had to do it.  The experience was so good that I had to share it.  If you ever get a chance to head up to kennebunkport maine, take the trip to hidden pond to find and eat at earth.  Too good to pass up. 

Cameron Hughes Wine Dinner

    Just had my third wine dinner at Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro featuring Cameron Hughes.  This has been one of my most successful pairings yet! I am really excited about how it turned out.  When we first put these dinners together I taste the wines and then I think about what they taste like in terms of food.  I usually think of what the remind me of and what food memories they evoke.  Then I write a menu based around these elements.  To see it come together as splendidly as it did last night is really fun.

    My first course was a goose terring with cherries and pistachois.  My biggest concern was the terrine being too dry but it turned out perfectly moist.  This went with a tarragon aioli.  One of my line cooks has been doing a lot of research into hydrocolloids and really wanted to try making a "caviar" out of the wine the terrine was being paired with; a Grenache, syrah, mouvedre blend.  It came out awesome and was a great alternative to an aspic.

    The second course was braised pork shoulder with fried tomatillos and mustard fruits.  The mustard fruits are a fun condiment I learned while working at Union Bar and Grille in the South End which I beleive my chef there learned at Sorellina.  I really love doing this dish with a take on American South fried green tomatoes but the tomatillos have an acidic snap that compliments the fattiness of the pork.  This dish was paired with Cam Hughes 100% Zinfandel.  A delicious wine and a perfect pair.

    Third we did a roast lamb saddle with cauliflower puree, herb spaetzle, maitake mushroom duxelle and lavander jus.  I love the way lavander brightens up lamb.  It works quite well with the gaminess of the meat and also with the strong tannins in the cabernet it was being served with. 

    For dessert we did a whipped marscapone vol au vent with brandied caramel and spiced almonds.  This is a very simple dish.  The fun part was serving it with a chardonnay which had some nutty, apple, and caramel elements to it.  This dessert was spot on to me for the wine.  Even though many dont think of chardonnay as something to pair with dessert it was the only option in my mind.

   Oh and we did a granita out of a reisling chenin blanc blend that was a hit.  really playful and fun!